Over the past few weeks, there have been reports of various issues going on in residence halls around campus.
Two cases of bedbugs were reported on the ninth and 10th floors of Geisert Hall, and Harper Hall also had a report of mosquitoes in the showers on floors three, four and six. According to Sarah Handler, president of the student body, these issues were initially reported by Senator Hannah Wolkowitz at a Student Senate General Assembly meeting Sept. 14.
Senior finance major and Geisert Hall director Ryan Johnson commented on the bedbug problem.
“It’s been treated, and the situation has been taken care of,” Johnson said. “We had exterminators come in and spray.”
Johnson said he thinks this isn’t an issue students should hear about.
Vice President of Student Affairs Nathan Thomas shed light on the issue and how it gets handled.
“It’s really a team approach,” Thomas said. “Facilities, housing and the residence hall staff, we get notified and then we respond in the appropriate ways.”
According to Thomas, the bedbugs were isolated and the building wasn’t facing any sort of outbreak. Each of the mattresses that were affected was replaced with new ones. Vice President of Campus Affairs Alex Estes said the severity of the issue was not high.
“The bed bug incident in Geisert was not serious at all,” Estes said. “It happened at the very beginning of the school year and hasn’t been brought up since that meeting.”
On the other hand, Estes said nobody was notified about the mosquitoes in the Harper showers.
“I talked with the student who made the complaint and he said he has alerted the RA,” Estes said. “However, my fraternity brother is an ARA in the building, and when I asked him about the incident he said no one ever alerted the RA. The communication between the student and RA was not present.”
This isn’t the first time residence halls have dealt with an issue like this.
In March of 2010, Geisert had a case of bedbugs that had to be taken care of. In addition, instances of mold were reported in University Hall during that time. Both issues were reported as treated.
“Honestly, we have had [bedbugs] since 2010, but I think because we have standardized our process, you know how to respond to the situation each time,” Thomas said. “Even though each situation is different, you have a similar response to how they’re dealt with.”
Additionally, Thomas said there are plans to revise the bed bug policy due to new things being learned and how treatments have changed over time.
