The university is relocating 500 students from Lawrence Tower for the spring semester due to mold growth. Credit: Lily Pace | Lantern Reporter
After mold and mushroom growth was discovered in Lawrence Tower, causing the university to relocate approximately 500 students for spring semester, residents are voicing their lingering concerns.
Students were given three options for new housing: change room assignments before Dec. 1, finish the semester in Lawrence Tower and relocate elsewhere on campus after winter break or receive a new spring assignment and/or housing contract release to move off campus by Dec. 13, according to Lawrence Tower’s frequently asked questions regarding mold-related protocol.
In documents obtained by The Lantern Nov. 15, independently conducted PriorityLab tests revealed significant mold growth in 27 of the 28 Lawrence Tower dorm rooms assessed, with an amount of spores that was “too numerous to count accurately,” per prior Lantern reporting. Dave Isaacs, university spokesperson, said the removal of students from Lawrence Tower is not correlated to the PriorityLab testing.
Nov. 26, Lawrence Tower residents received a university housing email that stated students finishing their semester in the building will receive new housing assignments by Dec. 27.
In the email, obtained by The Lantern, the university said it will “not be utilizing [Lawrence Tower] for housing in the spring semester.” The email states the university is “[anticipating] ongoing renovations” that will be required.
Issacs confirmed this information, and said in an email Tuesday the building “will be closed spring semester so maintenance can be done.”
The choice is leaving some students like Jack Haley, a first-year in architecture, feeling overwhelmed, he said in an email.
“Since I have not moved, I can only speak on the fact that moving soon has placed a sense of uncertainty on my future and has absolutely distracted me during finals season, a time which should be spent focusing on my studies,” Haley said. “Instead, I’m worried about packing up my stuff and wondering where I will put it until we get a new housing assignment, which we were told should be released by December 27th, 14 days after they would have already kicked us out, and 15 days after the deadline to break the housing contract ends.”
Haley said he was initially dismayed by the situation, feeling generally hopeless due to a lack of communication around this health and safety issue.
“All we want is a simple answer but it seems like [the university] cannot and will not give one,” Haley said. “My initial response was shock that they would decide to fix this problem halfway through the school year, and confusion as to why they had previously denied a problem and now insist all students need to move out.”
Lawrence Tower resident Catherine Smith, a first-year in chemistry and environmental engineering, said in an email she was also stunned to hear the news that students would have to be moved.
“My roommate and I literally sat in our dorm with our jaws dropped as we realized the entire building would eventually have to move out like we did, although they were given multiple weeks’ notice, whereas we only had two days,” Smith said.
Smith said she was one of the first students to be moved out of the dorm due to the mold and has been relocated twice since the incident came to light.
“Originally, my roommate and I were relocated to the top floor of Morrill Tower with two other random roommates and 14 suitemates,” Smith said. “After expressing our concerns to [University] Housing, they were able to find us our own double in Morrison Tower on South campus.”
Students can request to remain with their current roommates, but retention is not guaranteed, according to Lawrence Tower’s frequently asked questions.
“I currently have no place to go, and according to the few people who have moved, there seems to be no guarantee that any preferences, including roommate preference, are locked in,” Haley said. “There are people who got separated from their roommates despite requesting otherwise.”
To compensate Lawrence Tower residents, the university offered $450 for each student’s spring housing and tuition bill and allocated them $75 of BuckID cash, Smith said.
Smith said she believes the extra BuckID cash was given for moving expenses, but she still has not been fully refunded for moving to a Rate 2 dorm — which costs $4,203 a semester — from a Rate 1 dorm — which is priced at $5,045 a semester, according to the Office of Student Life’s Housing and Residence Education website.
According to a Nov. 26 email sent to Lawrence Tower students, a $450 credit will be applied to their accounts by no later than Dec. 2, and $75 will likewise be added to their general BuckID accounts.
This information was confirmed by Isaacs.
In response, Haley said he feels “insulted that [students’] major inconvenience is being valued so low.”
Smith, however, said she hopes this incident can teach Ohio State to communicate more effectively with its student body.
“I think since they knew this would be the eventual outcome of Lawrence, that they could’ve waited until a resolution was found to provide the residents a peace of mind and not [have them] wonder over break,” Smith said.
This story was updated Dec. 4 at 10:12 a.m. to correct a date inaccuracy in a quote from Smith.
