In January 1983 international students presented a petition with more than five hundred names to Dixon Johnson, director of International Student Affairs, asking that plans to move the International House from its present location at 1604 Laurel to the house at 1515 Cumberland be expedited. The house at 1515 Cumberland was supposed to be ready for use as the I-house by September 1982. Students pointed out that the upper floors of 1604 Laurel had had to be closed and that the ceiling in the living room had sagged approximately two feet. The date of occupancy of the new location was first moved to December, and then, as a result of the State’s impoundment of funds, was postponed indefinitely. Johnson did not transmit the petition to the vice chancellor for student affairs or the chancellor; International Club president Kemal Ahmed retrieved the petition from Johnson in May and gave it to Chancellor Reese. Construction on the conversion was started in spring 1983, and the new house was ready in summer 1983.