Living in a cricket-infested apartment where you make your own repairs, doubt your safety and pay an increased rent each year attracts few residents.

Yet residents live in these conditions just blocks from the university.

However, housing projects or bad landlords aren’t the problem, but rather housing at ACU falls short of good standards. Mostly married couples reside in Sherrod Hall, which opened in 1974 and contains 30 apartments. ResLife bills 20 ACU students but does not keep track of the number of residents who live in the apartments.

Now a proposal could discontinue the use of Sherrod and stop new couples from moving in until action is taken.

Still in his first month as the director of Residence Life, John Delony proposed the idea to Jean-Noel Thompson, vice president and dean for student life.

Delony said the proposal amounts to more than an idea, but not a formal plan.

President Royce Money; Dean for Students Jean-Noel Thompson; Kevin Watson, associate vice president for administrative services and chief operations officer; and Delony will meet Sept. 10 to discuss options for the Sherrod Apartments.

Delony also said a forum will take place before Sept. 10 open to Sherrod residents for voicing concerns about their living accommodations. He said no date is set for the forum because he wants to select a time convenient for as many residents as possible.

He said the university recruits couples to the university by promising to provide student housing. The university will uphold promises made to residents, he said; “We’ll be very fair to the residents.”

Delony’s actions should come as a relief to disgruntled Sherrod residents. Any small change in their current living would improve the situation.

Since 2003, rent went up $65 a month, and residents say they received little in return for their pay increase.

In the past, ResLife has been responsible for setting the rates and the divisions and budgeting director helps revise and ultimately approves it. Delony did not give a reason for the increased rent because it was set before his arrival.

In four years, Troy Shockley, a Sherrod resident and ACU alum whose wife, Roxanne, is a senior interdisciplinary major from Billings, Mont., said the university fixed one thing: the door. Now the door, which lacks weatherproofing, lets crickets into the apartment. Each morning, Troy and his nearly two-year-old daughter sweep more than a dozen crickets from their apartment during ‘cricket patrol.’

Residents do not use the laundry facility because of a lack of security. The unlocked laundry room in an empty apartment doesn’t alleviate resident fear about an attacker lurking in the unprotected laundry rooms.

The proposal does not say what would replace Sherrod or where married couples would stay. Any solution, such as renovation or demolition, is conceivable. The university cannot answer those questions before researching its options.

We think the university intends to meet its moral obligation to repair and improve Sherrod – or to move the residents to safe and up-to-date apartments with good pest control.