A laundry room incident occurred in Methodist Hall, causing sophomore Sahara Seifried to be faced with a distressing situation when her clothes were burnt, resulting in the loss of a significant portion of her wardrobe due to damages.
The incident was reported to the on-call Resident Assistant (RA) and the Resident Life Coordinator (RLC), Elizabeth Conrad, through email.
However, seeking resolution proved to be lengthy, as there wasn’t a response to Seifried’s email until a month later.
A meeting was scheduled with Seifried and her parents; unfortunately, Seifried wasn’t satisfied with the meeting, feeling that it insinuated a lack of competence on her part in using laundry room equipment.
Seifried brought up similar incidents of three other students’ clothes being burned.
Seifried hopes that future incidents will be handled more efficiently and with signifigantly more consideration for the affected individuals.
We contacted the Assistant Director of Housing Operations, Jewellia Simpson, to inquire about the laundry room incident and how residents can implement proper care in the laundry facilities.
She mentioned that there have been two incidents, and if there have been any other instances, she has not been made aware.
Simpson also explained that, “If you pack the dryer full, your clothes will take way longer to dry, and you risk your items getting burned on the heating element within the dryer due to lack of movement.”
She also suggested that students should be aware of the importance of getting their belongings promptly, “Wet clothes lead to mildew and mold developing and can ruin the integrity of your garments. I highly recommend setting timers or using our LaundryView system to monitor your clothing to prevent damage and save money.”
The dryers are serviced yearly in the summer to remove excess lint in the traps, however, over the winter break, the school used a third-party vendor to clean behind the dryer walls, out of an abundance of caution.
Over the weekend, Residence Life emailed Walker Hall Residents, informing them that there was an error from the vendor during the reinstallation process of the laundry room facilities and that they would remain offline until January 8, 2024.
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