Biochemistry senior Jolett Valdez signed her 2027-28 housing contract on Oct. 5 with three of her friends, excited to spend her last year at the University in a place that was convenient and relatively affordable: Dobie Twenty21. Just three weeks later, University Housing and Dining sent an email to those who re-signed announcing that the building would be unavailable for the 2027-28 school year.
“It was so devastating to get the email,” Valdez said. “We were already all looking forward to living there next year.”
Students who have already resigned will receive priority access to select a room in other residence halls from Nov. 2 to Nov. 4, including the new Whitis Residence Hall that will open next year, according to a Tuesday email sent to Dobie residents who re-signed. If the students do not wish to stay in another UT residence hall, they need to cancel their contract by Nov. 16 to receive a refund of their $300 prepayment and $100 non-refundable application fee, according to a University spokesperson.
The University has not announced future plans for the building, but in April 2026, UT System Chairman Kevin Eltife announced that Dobie would be renamed the Dell House.
The University purchased Dobie for $104 million in Oct. 2021 to provide a new, affordable student-housing option. The current rates for the complex are the lowest for on-campus housing, with a rate of $13,324 for a shared room with private bath or $14,116 for a two bedroom shared room with private bath. The 2027-28 rates for all on-campus housing options are not yet available.
Youth and community studies sophomore Justin Ortiz wrote in an email that the timing is one of his biggest concerns because he already started budgeting for next year with Dobie’s rates in mind. He wrote that even with priority room selection, it is difficult to make informed decisions when next year’s residence hall rates are not yet published.
“I do not feel that there is anything significantly wrong with Dobie that would have made me choose somewhere else,” Ortiz wrote. “That is why I think students deserve clear communication about what is happening and why, especially when they have already made commitments based on the housing options previously available.”
Human dimensions of organizations sophomore Maya Martinez said she fell in love with Dobie and the community it brought to her as she moved to a new city. Now, as she’s studying for midterms and thinking about registration, she also doesn’t know what the future holds in her housing.
“(The University) just needs to be more sympathetic of the fact that they stripped us of security we thought we had literally paid for for next year,” Martinez said. “All the students living in Dobie should know that we’re all in the same boat, and so we have each other, but it would have been nice to feel supported by our University as well.”
