Sixteen freshmen were evacuated from Hook Residence Hall Saturday morning as a precautionary measure after an elevated level of mildew was detected in the air.
The air quality in the building had been tested at least twice per week since the beginning of the school year, when eight freshmen boys were reassigned prior to move-in weekend because of severe water damage in their suite, according to Angel Garcia, assistant director of Residence Life in East Area.
"I know it's an inconvenience and we understand that," Garcia said. "We knew it was going to be a hard process."
The students were in two suites on the second and third floors of the building and this is the first time the air quality results have indicated any cause for potential concern, Garcia said.
Professional staff met with the students Friday, Sept. 15 and gave them the option to either move to open spaces on campus—including with senior resident assistants who offered to take on roommates—or move to Campus Trace, an off-campus apartment complex owned by B.C. Parker Real Estate.
The move took place Saturday and only one student chose to take a spot on campus.
In addition to involving at least 40 staff members, including physical plant, resident assistants from various areas on campus and professional staff, the students were provided with moving and dry-cleaning services and their temporary accommodations were equipped with new beds, mattresses, desks and chairs, Garcia said.
Liz Whelan, one of the students who moved to Campus Trace, said it was frustrating to have to pack everything up after only three weeks on campus.
"We kind of miss the whole college environment, being on campus and everything," she said.
But while students were originally upset, Whelan said most have grown to like their new accommodations.
"It's definitely a huge upgrade," she said. "We all have our own rooms, bathrooms and walk-in closets now. Everyone likes the space. We have our own kitchen, too. There are three people in my apartment and it's pretty big, but I think people miss being on campus and being able to walk to the dining halls or walking to a friend's room in Carolina or something. The distance from campus to Campus Trace is unwalkable, there are no sidewalks and it's two miles, but everyone's pretty happy in the apartments now."
Whelan is one of the many affected students without cars. The BioBus does not run back and forth to campus on the weekends, so van-certified professional and student staff made rounds roughly every 20 minutes on Sunday.
The mildew clean-up is expected to take seven to 10 days, Garcia said, but there is no guarantee on when students will be able to move back into their dorms. The freshmen that were originally relocated have been given the option to stay in their previously- temporary spots or move closer to the Historic Neighborhood, but they have shown interest in waiting until they can move back into their original assignments in Hook, he said.
Whelan said some of the students have been discussing whether to ask for monetary reimbursement because of the inconvenience of being dislocated, but Garcia said he has not heard whether that will be offered.
"They actually were moved to more expensive housing," he said. "I don't know what kind of monetary reimbursement we can provide"