Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis will join Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan and Vice Mayor Tammy Kim to visit the UCI campus and tour the site of the Mesa Court residence hall expansion, a new student housing facility for first- and second-year undergraduates. The project is supported by funds from California’s Higher Education Student Housing Grant Program, which was established to aid the construction of affordable student housing in the state’s three public higher education systems.

WHO: Eleni Kounalakis, lieutenant governor of California
UCI Chancellor Howard Gillman
UCI Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Willie L. Banks Jr.
Mayor of Irvine Farrah Khan
Vice Mayor of Irvine Tammy Kim

WHEN:  Monday, April 10, from 3:10-4 p.m. 

WHERE: University of California, Irvine
Mesa Court complex (grid C-3/4 on this campus map: https://parking.uci.edu/maps/documents/UCI-MainCampusMap-REV012320-23.pdf)

RSVP: Media planning to attend should contact Tom Vasich at 949-285-6455 or tmvasich@uci.edu. Parking is complimentary for media who RSVP in advance.

Parking will be provided in parking lot 5 (grid C-4 on the campus map) by the trailers at the far end of the lot.

VISUALS:  Media will have access to obtain videos and photos of attendees, surrounding students and facilities, as well as pull aside interviews with the lieutenant governor. 

BACKGROUND: In March, the UC regents approved a plan to increase on-campus housing at UC campuses by 8,000 beds to help meet growing student demand. This is part of a larger systemwide goal to add 22,000 beds across the nine UC undergraduate campuses by fall 2028. UCI has received regental approval to expand its Mesa Court complex, which houses first- and second-year students.

The Mesa Court residence hall expansion project will provide about 300 new affordable residence hall beds for lower-division undergraduates. It will help meet current and projected demand for on-campus housing and make progress toward increasing housing capacity for students on campus. The project’s location near the Mesa Court Towers takes advantage of existing dining and community facilities, making it a cost-efficient solution for accommodating more students. The effort supports diversity, equity and inclusion by expanding student access to the many academic and social resources available on campus. It will be funded through the California Higher Education Student Housing Grant Program and external financing.

Overall, UCI provides on-campus, under-market housing opportunities for more than 16,000 undergraduate and graduate students, the third-most among UC campuses.

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