Picture this: It’s a lazy Sunday afternoon, and you’re lounging in the comfort of your dorm, taking a nap. You live in Hillside, Colby College’s first-year dorm complex. While it’s often considered the least glamorous housing on campus, you don’t mind. You’re on the third floor, sharing tight quarters with three other roommates. The room is a “forced quad,” originally designed to accommodate three people, but that doesn’t bother you—you get along just fine with your roommates. Suddenly, you’re jolted awake by thick steam quickly filling the room. Confused, you sit up and glance around, only to see steam pouring out rapidly from beneath your roommate’s bed. You jump up in alarm, worried your roommate’s bed has caught on fire, and rush down the hall to find your Community Advisor. By the time you return to your room, it’s too late. Ankle-deep, black water has now flooded into the hallway and down the stairs, and the steam has triggered the fire alarm, and begun to drift through the entire building.
This is what occurred in Williams on Sunday, February 16. Students living in this dorm room were required to immediately move out, and relocate to a new dorm across campus. One of the roommates, Salaar Ali, describes the room as being “sauna-like.”
“I lost all my sneakers,” he explains. Another one of his roommates claims to have lost upwards of two thousand dollars worth of personal belongings. The school, however, denied them reimbursement.
Dan Cline, the College’s Dean of Housing and Residential Education, explained that the College carries insurance to protect its property but does not provide coverage for students’ personal belongings. He described this as “a standard practice at most institutions and similar to what individuals encounter when they lease residential property from a landlord.” Members of the flooded Williams dorms received an email from the housing office reminding them to review the Residential Agreement and Student Handbook.
Under Personal Possession Policies in the Student Handbook, reads that the College “cannot be held liable in the event of students’ property being damaged, lost or stolen from any College-owned or maintained buildings.” Under Room and Hall Care Policies, the Handbook states, “Residents are responsible for damage to, or loss of, College property in their assigned rooms.”
This would mean that residents of the flooded dorm were responsible for the pipe bursting. Housing explained to Ali and his roommates that the pipe burst as a result of them leaving the window open. Ali explained, however, that “The heating wasn’t even working the night before, so everything was cold. We only opened the window to let the steam out.” Regardless of whether or not the window was left open is unclear. Regardless, Ali claims that this flood did not catch security by surprise. “When security came, their first reaction to the pipe burst was ‘Oh yeah, the pipes in Hillside do that sometimes,” Ali said. Some students have questioned whether the Handbook is even enforceable if the damage is caused by the College’s negligence.
Housing has, however, been working consistently to accommodate students with room switches. Cline cited the College’s “Open Room Change Process” where students are able to request a new dorm; housing has facilitated as many as 200 room changes this year. Many first-year students have had success stories with housing. Caroline Balchelder `28, was able to relocate rooms, not once, but twice. “The first time I moved rooms, […] it was towards the beginning of the year, so I imagine they were receiving lots of requests about room switches. They eventually came through and found a new space for me. The second time I moved rooms, the housing was super receptive […] I had some really great conversations with them,” she explains. While switching rooms has been manageable, students still feel that many of their buildings lack adequate support.
A female neighbor of Ali’s explained that as a result of the flood, “the showers leak black water.” The girls’ bathrooms in other Hillside dorms have also raised flags. Addison Ralphs, a resident of Hillside’s Leonard building said “It is kind of weird because there are only two toilets for all the girls in our building. A practical solution would be replacing the unused urinal in the bathroom with a functioning toilet” she jokes.
Many students living in the Hillside complex on campus feel the buildings’ maintenance has not been up to par. The recurring pipe issues, frequent heating malfunctions, and bathroom inconveniences have negatively influenced many members of the first-year class. Nearby, Bates College has a similar number of first-years living in their dorms. Student Eva Bogan explained that in her Bates dormitory, she shares three functional toilets with only nine other girls. Ali ended his interview by saying, “This is a traumatizing thing for freshmen. Imagine leaving your life and moving in here and then having to deal with stuff like this. I feel like Colby should at least make the Hillside a liveable community. Students don’t know about the structural concerns before moving in.”
Some students are concerned about their safety in the dorms. One source also felt that there were safety issues in stairwells, which was the site of an accident earlier this school year. Ali noted that if the flooding “had happened on my side of the room while I was asleep, it would have burst directly onto me. That is not ok.” Ralphs admitted, “I didn’t even know it was that important that I keep the window closed.” The ongoing issues in the Hillside dormitories indicate a need for immediate renovation and more transparency.
For first-years like the residents of the Williams dorm, the unexpected flooding and resulting damage serve as reminders of the fine print that students sign in their housing agreements. With infrastructure issues, often below-average amenities, and a lack of transparency about safety precautions, some students feel that the College’s residential situation doesn’t achieve the bare minimum of comfort and safety. With more students coming forward about living conditions, students feel the administration must take a closer look at its dorms to ensure future generations of students won’t have to deal with the same frustrations.
~ Molly Garvey `28
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