By Nicholas Dunsdon
As a junior at Graceland, I have spent the past two and a half years living in the dorms on campus. For the most part, I enjoyed my experience. Living in the dorms has given me a unique insight and respect for the House system at Graceland. It has brought me closer to my house and I am grateful for the House system. However, my fellow students and I have had several negative experiences living in the dorms.
I sat down with Kendall Davis, a junior and the House President of Aponivi, to learn about her time living in the dorms and how her role as a house president has impacted her time in the dorms.
I posed the question, “How has living in the dorms at Graceland influenced your Graceland experience?”
Davis responded, “Living in the dorms at Graceland has been wonderful, but also exhausting. The relationships I have been able to build with my house that live on hall with me are my closest friends.”
However, while Davis has had several positive experiences, she also stated that there have been multiple negative occurrences.
Davis said, “Graceland and their facilities team has struggled to keep the dorms up to acceptable living standards. Walker has had mold in the air conditioning system, and it took an entire semester for the facilities team to believe the students when told that there was a mold problem.”
The air quality was addressed by President Shrock in November via a mass email to the student body. Shrock explained that air quality testing found “elevated mold” in multiple rooms of Walker, also stating that previous mold issues have occurred as well. Shrock explained that students were temporarily relocated and that the problem was being fixed by an outside source.
I have had some less-than-ideal experiences while living in the dorms. For example, during the first semester of my freshman year, the Fall of 2022, the men living in Graybill were locked out of our bathrooms. The restriction occurred because residents were flushing items down the toilet that should not have been flushed. Graybill has also had bed bug issues, which have caused students to have to move rooms, as well as the fire alarm going off because people would walk through the fire door in the basement.
In addition to the incidents that often occur in the dorms, most residence halls do not have air conditioning. Due to no air conditioning, dorm conditions are often uncomfortable and potentially dangerous. The high temperature on the first day of classes, August 26th, was 99°F. Students are required to have a physician’s note to have an air conditioning unit installed in their dorm room.
Davis was also posed the question, “If you could change one thing about dorm life at Graceland, what would it be?”
She said, “The one thing I would change about dorm life at Graceland would be better buildings. Mold has become a hazard and was extremely stressful and unsettling for me and other students. We have had shower heads that constantly drip water, even though there have been several work orders to replace them and has caused water to sit on the bathroom floor. I have seen windows so old that they do not seal properly, which means that ladybugs have been seen inside, and ice has formed on the inside of the window during the winter.”
Davis continued by saying, “Living in the dorms is amazing and a major role of students is feeling the overwhelming acceptance that Graceland offers but also understanding that the living conditions are under par a majority of the time and can cause unneeded stress and discomfort.”
Although some of the issues in the dorms are student caused, several are due to poor building maintenance and outdated buildings. Perhaps the recent outsourcing of facility services will lead to a more efficient response to building maintenance and issues.
I asked Davis the question: “How has your experience at Graceland changed from being an underclassman to becoming a House President?”
She responded, “Living in the dorms is still very fun, as I get to build relationships with new students, and we can still have fun pulling many of the shenanigans that I did as an underclassman. The main difference now is that I have to supervise and prioritize the safety of my House, which means being on somewhat of a watch as I’m having fun.”
Davis and I, if asked, would say that we both enjoyed our Graceland experience. We would say that the house system and living in the dorms is a crucial aspect of the Graceland experience. However, there have been a lot of issues that have brought a negative spin on our experience. The living conditions have been sub-optimal. Dorm life is one of the most important parts of the Graceland experience, however, the conditions in the dorms have soured the experience for many students.
Comments