Levels of Mold Decrease On-Campus While Some Cases Persist

Follow-up on cases of mold discovered in on-campus housing

Lower Fulton vent. Source: Jenna Lavinio ‘23

A few weeks after the Circle first reported on multiple students finding mold in their on-campus residences, nearly all of them are grateful to have had their issues resolved. Yet, some cases have persisted.

“It still hasn’t come back,” said Chris Pagnotta ’22, located in Lower Fulton. “Maintenance did come after the article and checked our vents.” 

Similarly, Tori Mariano ’24 and Mackenzie O’Rourke ’24 said they had not seen a resurfacing of mold in their Upper West housing.

Lower Fulton housemates Daniel Degen ’22, Josh Mrozik ’22 and Alexander Colón ’22, said Housekeeping finally came to address the issue in early October. 

“They unscrewed everything, and they were looking in the vents and stuck them in the dishwasher and cleaned them with detergent,” said Degen. He mentioned that the dishwasher was not cleaned after Housekeeping washed their vents in it.

Mrozik added, “They didn’t follow up. They didn’t ask if it was growing back.”

Although they have not seen anything resurface, they expressed their frustration with how difficult it was to resolve the situation. The lack of communication within the departments and how no one has reached out to ensure it is gone leads to their grievances. 

“It’s kind of crazy how it took over a month, and it took a lot of badgering, and the number one thing is they just don’t communicate,” said Degen. “They have no communication with one another.” 

Tenzin Tsundu ‘22, president of the Student Government Association (SGA), explained that Maintenance, Housing, Residential Directors (RD) and the Director of Physical Plant, Mr. Butwell, have been attending weekly meetings to increase their communication. Physical Plant oversees all departments on campus, including Housing, Maintenance and Housekeeping.

Lily Jandrisevits ’25, the Circle’s SGA Correspondent, detailed SGA’s meeting with Mr. Butwell on Oct. 27. “Their recommendation in this meeting was to follow the directions on bleach and have the students spray it themselves, especially in upperclassmen housing,” said Jandrisevits.

Butwell explained that hot showers and open windows with the air conditioning on could cause problems like these. Jandrisevits said that Butwell highly emphasized emailing complaints rather than calling. He said to have students email Maintenance and CC Housing detailing their situation and location. This way, there is a report of what happened, and it will be addressed based on importance. If an individual’s complaint is not responded to quickly enough, students should reach out to their RD and have them advocate on their behalf.

“We are trying to work with Mr. Butwell to investigate if the current processes can be improved,” said Tsundu regarding the process for reporting and resolving issues on campus. 

Bridgette Goss ’23 unfortunately never received a new shower curtain and had to purchase her own to replace it, disposing of the old moldy shower curtain. Goss said that two men from Maintenance came to her building and checked everyone’s room, providing them with some relief. They also attempted to fix the ventilation problem in her shower room.

“We asked Maintenance if we could get a new shower curtain,” said Goss. “They said, ‘If we fix the vent, it will fix the problems.’ And they didn’t really fix the vent, so we’re still having the problem.” Now mold has formed on the third-floor shower curtain. Her housemates said they plan on buying another new one.

As we enter the winter months, what appears to be mold is still present on the Marist College campus. Though the cases are more minimal compared to weeks ago, it is still an issue.

Jenna Lavinio ’23, located in Lower Fulton, said they found mold at the beginning of September and have since seen it resurface. 

“They removed the mold with a paper towel, and it grew back two and a half weeks later,” said Lavinio’s housemate, who requested to remain anonymous. “So last week Maintenance came back to clean again, and this time they took the vent caps off and soaked them in bleach in a bucket, but they haven’t gone into the ducts at all.” There are still spots on their ceilings that she believes resemble mold. 

“The RD also told me that Housekeeping is trained in removing mold,” said Lavinio’s housemate. “They have certifications and we can ask them for their certifications in mold removal.”

Lavinio said the mold is in four vents on the main floor and all the vents on the third floor of their house.

Lavinio’s housemate has been exceptionally sick, even requiring a hospital visit. The doctor told her there could be a possibility that the illness and mold are linked, but this has yet to be confirmed.

Reminiscent of Degen’s previous situation, the housemate said, “My mom called Housing, and they said, ‘Sorry everyone who works for Housing is on lunch, we’ll call you back.’ They said they were going to call back, and nobody called back, ever.”

“I’m really just overall disappointed,” said Lavinio.

These students are still struggling to have their situation resolved and completely taken care of, explaining that they just don’t know what to do anymore.