Sections’ dorms Yonce 4 and 5 recently experienced a mold outbreak that left students aggravated and concerned. Many students found mold growing on their personal items and on the surface of their air conditioning units.
Residence Life was contacted about the issue over the weekend, and maintenance staff began cleaning mold and checking ventilation systems in the building the following Monday, on October 7. They visited each room, where they scrubbed the AC units with a bleach solution.
When doing an investigation on the roof, one student claimed they saw maintenance workers throw what seemed to be an air vent over the side of Yonce. Later, through email, Residence Life explained that a piece of air handling equipment had failed. In this email Director of Residence Life and Housing, Chris Drew, said maintenance provided dehumidifiers in common area spaces and wiped down any visible mold.
Under a publication responding to the media surge in May 2024 about a supposed cancer cluster, Roanoke College answers their “frequently asked questions”. Through their answers, they make claims that through regular testing, environmental contractors in the past have found no toxic mold in dorm buildings, and that the count of spores is below typical outdoor levels.
Roanoke College sophomore Genevieve Fontana explains that a person visited to do air quality and moisture testing in their room, and found the moisture level was at 57%, when normal levels should be 50%. The tester explained their result was most likely lower than the other rooms in the building because Fontana and their roommate have kept the window open since move-in day, leaving a possibility for the room to dry out.
While the humidity level percentage was shared, mold testing and other air quality test results were never shared with students. Fontana, shocked by the lack of initiative for the issue, is performing their own spore test for their dorm to test if there is a deeper issue within the walls.
“The school desperately needs to be putting a lot more funding to help these dorm problems. We seem to be at the bottom of the priorities […] I pay way too much money to come here to be put at risk.” Fontana says.
However, the Roanoke College website has an information page on resident hall mold stating there is little risk. The website claims that mold is unlikely to affect residents’ health unless they are allergic to it. But many students have suffered headaches, dizziness and respiratory issues as a result before visible mold was identified.
“I had two migraines within the span of a week, more intense than any migraines I’ve had in recent years.” Roanoke College Junior Addy Littlefield says.
Students are upset about the appearance of mold, but also the reaction and procedures of the school. Apart from office closures on weekends, students had a hard time reaching residence life about the issue.
Students have expressed the feeling that staff should have acted faster, relocating students as the risk was identified.
“This does affect my view of the school. I am unsure I want to live on campus next year because of this. I felt very unsafe in my dorm for a week awaiting responses” Littlefield says.
Yonce residents expressed complaints, but also sincere thanks to the maintenance and housekeeping staff that checked in on them during the week. The residents claim they now await a meaningful response from the school.
Kara Hopkins
Staff Reporter
