After deciding to fire 23 resident advisers for vague and frankly insufficient reasons less than a month ago, University Housing has gone silent.

Rather than explain the choice to cut a third of their RA staff, University Housing administrators Abeer Mustafa and Connie Huyck have chosen to disregard The Orion’s and other news media’s attempts to get more information. The lack of justification for their actions and choice to exclude the media shows the blatant lack of transparency of the University Housing administrators.

The lack of logic or explanation behind their actions only makes Chico State look inefficient. A significant amount of students rely on University Housing as their primary shelter in Chico. The lack of communication to a news organization keeps those students uninformed, along with the rest of the student body.

Getting in touch with University Housing can consist of a weeks-long process of emails, calls and canceled meetings. If lucky enough to snag an interview, Mustafa and Huyck stipulate that questions must be provided prior to the interview, even though they have been informed that such a practice violates journalism ethics.

The Orion recently learned that University Housing hired first-year students to supervise other first-year residents in Whitney Hall. The new RAs were given a truncated training and thrown into a disorderly situation. As The Orion reported on March 14, without RAs for nearly three weeks, residents in Whitney Hall were openly drinking in their dorms and violating terms of the Residence Life Handbook. University Housing’s decision to have first-year students supervise first-year students is irresponsible.

The administrators of University Housing need to answer for their actions. The decision to not be transparent with the students and news outlets is a purposeful evasion and disservice to Chico State and the people who rely on the service University Housing provides.

The Orion editorial is a collaborative effort of the entire editorial board.