Campus activism entered Adams House dining hall Friday, as Adams residents Alexander H. deWeese '98-'01 and Amanda C. Davis '01 gathered 200 signatures in support of a Greater Boston Interfaith Organization (GBIO) petition to increase affordable housing in the Boston area.

The petition seeks to double local, state and federal budgets for affordable housing, to persuade corporations and universities to "commit their fair share" of resources for affordable housing, to use public land for affordable housing, and to increase affordable housing for renters and homeowners.

"Gentrification isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I think lots of different people should be able to live in the city and live well," deWeese said.

Since a 1994 statewide referendum abolished rent control in Boston, Brookline and Cambridge, rents, housing prices and turnover in the area's housing market have all risen dramatically.

"The diversity of the city actually does change as people are forced out of the city," deWeese said.

"A few students were opposed to the petition, and most others were simply wary of putting their name on a petition of any sort," he said.

Katherine A. Murphy '01, one of the students who signed the petition on Friday, said it "raises awareness" of the housing difficulties the region faces.

"It's very easy to ignore when we're comfortably provided for in a House and a dining hall like this," she said.