A Look Back: Broken Leak in Woodward Hall
- Jack Ruderman
- 4 hours ago
- 2 min read
Dean College- Right before students left for spring break, some students found themselves in a odd situation. The week before srping break there was a structural issue that occurred in Woodward Hall preventing residents from doing anything as part of the daily routine. These habits can range from doing laundry in the basement to using the sinks on any floor of the building. Based on its status currently, the Facilities department is investigating the cause behind the damage along with members of Residence Life who made the announcement via email.
Resident Director Tom O’Conner, he was unable to be reached out for comment during the timeline of the event heading into the recess. In an email that was sent out to the residents mentioned that, “the cause of the issue has been determined to be a blockage in the pipes from baby wipes so this is your reminder to please NOT flush anything other than toilet paper down the toilet” This right here is a sign of encouraging news and to be aware not to mess up the pipe drainage system regardless of where you live.
However, the Director of Facilities Douglas Curley was able to additionally summarize what happened inside that residence hall from an insider’s perspective. There were two tanks in the basement of Woodward that pump water out into the street. It’s not a residential hall matter, but it is a campus wide issue since everyone uses the facilities on a constant basis. As the saying goes “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t force them to drink it.” It takes time for a matter like this to be resolved, but at the same time there are five people who work in the department trying to solve other issues simultaneously on campus.
Then there was one other student living in Woodward who all had an interesting take on what went down over the past couple of days. One of the residents, Harrison Soep had something interesting to say regarding the fixture of potentially resuming regular activities inside the living space.
“I wanted to make sure that I read the email very carefully and make sure there were updates to it. I’m not on campus, so I wanted to make sure that this wasn’t a problem when I came back on Sunday night,” said Soep. “By the time I came back, it (the showers and sinks) was all resolved except for the laundry room and all that stuff.”
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Even though the situation has been resolved, it is always important not to let your guard down when the unexpected happens no matter which location on campus. The Residence Life and Facilities departments were very fortunate to race against time before the students left for the long-awaited break coming up. This is also a reminder to not flush anything down the drains which may not be healthy for the environment out in the community.
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