By Hayden Sweeney

Patrick Wojahn, mayor of College Park, Md., is faced with the task to create affordable housing for University of Maryland graduate students.

“(Affordable housing) is perhaps the number one issue for graduate students,” said Joey Haavik, president of the Graduate Student Government at UMD. “Graduate students are living in subpar conditions with high prices.”

Over 10,000 graduate students are enrolled at UMD, and less than 1,000 are housed by the university, according to Wojahn. The city of College Park recently partnered with the university to create a community preservation trust that plans to purchase single-family homes and multi-family buildings to rent out to graduate students, according to Wojahn.

But Haavik isn’t quick to assume that the trust will be effective. “It all depends on what the cost is,” he said.

Wojahn believes it’s crucial for the city and the university to have a good relationship. “We work better when we collaborate with the university, and it hasn’t always been that way,” he said.

It’s part of the reason he ran for mayor in 2015. Wojahn started in politics as a policy and legal advocate for the rights of people with disabilities and people with HIV/AIDS before serving on the College Park city council for eight years.

“We saw the potential for a unique university community,” he said. “We didn’t really feel like it was living up to its potential previously.”

When former College Park Mayor Andrew Fellows decided not to run for a fourth term, he encouraged Wojahn to run.

“(Wojahn) believed in the same things I believed in, he was always a supportive voice… I like the way he handled himself,” Fellows said.

Featured Image: College Park Mayor Patrick Wojahn speaks with Prince George’s County residents. Image courtesy of Mayor Wojahn.