Raleigh apartment complex drops shuttle to Shaw campus
A Raleigh apartment complex's decision to drop Shaw University from a shuttle bus service it offers to Raleigh-area college campuses has upset some tenants, who say they were misled and now are left without transportation between school and home.
Posted — UpdatedWolf Creek Apartments, off Western Boulevard between Jones Franklin and Bashford roads in west Raleigh, has shuttles running to North Carolina State University and William Peace University on weekdays. But tenants who attend Shaw said the complex touted shuttle service to their campus more than 5½ miles away in advertisements, which is why they moved there and even renewed leases in August.
"The shuttles pass up and go back," Shaw student Andrew Thompson said, "the same route passing by Shaw University. What's five minutes to put a little extra stop right there?"
Wolf Creek suddenly canceled the shuttle to Shaw this fall and removed the school from its advertisements.
"We welcome an opportunity to work with more universities and colleges to accommodate their students and extend our service to our other colleges and universities," the statement said. "Every academic year, we revaluate all of our amenities to insure we are able to accommodate and service our student population."
Thompson and fellow Shaw student Jameko Pinder said they tried to take the shuttle to William Peace and then transfer to Raleigh's R Line buses to ride over to Shaw's campus, but William Peace officials stopped them.
"Every time you get off the bus, they're like, 'You're trespassing. You all need to go back on the bus because you all don't go to William Peace,'" Pinder said. "We're like, 'We're only trying to walk outside of the gate.' So the guy was like, 'You guys are trespassing. I'm going to get my campus security.'"
A William Peace spokesman said Thursday that the Shaw students will be allowed to take the Wolf Creek shuttle to the Peace campus as long as they "move along to their destination."
Some Shaw students said they want Wolf Creek to let them out of their leases so they can move closer to campus or to a complex that offers shuttle service to Shaw. A Shaw spokeswoman said a university attorney is looking into the students' situation.
Because Wolf Creek won't explain why the shuttle to Shaw was dropped, the students said they are starting to feel it's because of discrimination against the historically black college.
"At first we didn't want to come to that conclusion, but the more the situation goes on, the more apparent it's becoming," Thompson said.
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