“I am happy the Intersection Apartments are a step in the right direction supporting the most housing insecure demographic of the UC Berkeley community,” said Cotton.

Nicole-Marie CottonPhD student, African-American Studies

The building has finally reached completion so that more potential graduate students will receive keys to one of the empty Intersection Apartments located in Emeryville. The apartment building has a selection of carefully crafted units made specifically for Berkeley graduate students. On friday March 4th some of the very few Intersection residents, campus partners and administrators, Chancellor Carol Christ, Lisa García Bedolla Dean of the Graduate Division, and Emeryville Mayor John Bauters joined to celebrate the grand opening of this new building that will house graduate students for UC Berkeley.

The arrived guests were greeted with a beautiful display of cucumber and mint water and personal charcuterie plates. The most detailed item was the cookies on the end of the table that had a picture of Intersection Apartment building. The team of wait staff walked through the room and out to the patio sectional with trays of delicious platters. Even the blowing winds couldn’t damper this festive event.

Dean García Bedolla took the mike to greet the crowd and express her thanks to the residents who have welcomed everyone into their new home. To her these 145 graduate student beds at Intersection are a win and a step in the right direction to secure housing for UC Berkeley graduate students. Bedolla went on to announce that any additional revenue generated from the property would be put directly to fund graduate student fellowships. Acknowledgement of the need for housing was present in all of the remarks .  The excitement of this new building continued through Mayor Bauters speech as he also welcomed the first UC Berkeley students to the building.

“You’re all the first cohort of “E’villle Bears” in Cal history. Welcome. Go E’ville Bears!” said Emeryville Mayor Bauters.

Nicole-Marie Cotton, a PhD student in the African-American Studies department stood before the crowd with a smile across her face and greeted the crowd. Acknowledging the need for housing, her speech touched on her worry about finding affordable housing once deciding to attend UC Berkeley.

“I am happy the Intersection Apartments are a step in the right direction supporting the most housing insecure demographic of the UC Berkeley community,” said Cotton.

She looks forward to having the empty rooms at Intersection to be filled with students and possibly building a community. Her appreciation for the environmentally friendly motion sensors. She also enjoys the large windows and having a dishwasher, in-unit washer and dryer that save her the struggle of counting quarters. Another money saving aspect of the apartment. She enjoys the electric vehicle charging stations that save her time and worrying about finding the next charging station. All of these little things may sound silly if you are not a student. Putting in a load of wash in your own apartment to then be able to sit and do school work or relax is gold.

“I hope you [the audience in attendance that day] enjoy your tour later on of these apartments and appreciate the thoughtful design and potential for community that has risen from the ashes,” said Cotton as she closed out the speeches.