Students living in University Suites were awakened by fire alarms early Jan. 26 and evacuated into below-freezing temperatures. While some students waited outside the building, others returned to their cars, still unaware of what had triggered the evacuation.

Several students said they waited about 30 minutes before learning that a pipe had burst on the building’s fourth floor. Students who had been waiting outside were eventually allowed back into the Suites lobby, but those who had gone to their cars said they never received an announcement or notification from the university explaining what had happened.

Addy Miller, a Suites resident who waited in her car during the evacuation, said she only learned what had happened by asking other students.

“I honestly only know the reason we had to evacuate from asking other students walking by outside,” Miller said. “Besides word of mouth, no one has told us anything.”

Students whose rooms were affected by water damage returned to find large industrial fans running inside their living spaces. Several said they were frustrated by the lack of warning that the fans would be placed in their rooms.

Students on campus have complained about the frequency of these issues on a college community app called Fizz, with one recent post reading, “Guess which dorm flooded again.” 

For Suites residents, situations like these have become familiar.

High humidity in the building led to mold being found in multiple rooms in 2024. Several students said they were not notified by maintenance or housing, and instead learned about the mold from their roommates. Some students have lived in University Suites long enough to experience multiple issues. 

Sophia Martens is one of those students. In fall 2024, Martens and their roommate reported concerns about high humidity in their dorm room to the maintenance department. When maintenance checked the room, staff said there could be mold, and the two residents were required to move out temporarily. They removed their belongings and were allowed to move back in after a week. The roommates were also told the air quality in their dorm was below recommended levels. 

A few months later, in February 2024, disaster struck again for Suites residents. A pipe burst on the fourth floor, sending water down to the first floor, where Martens lived. Videos provided by Martens show standing water in hallways and students stuffing towels and blankets under doors to limit flooding. One student whose room was near a stairwell had water leaking from the ceiling onto her bed. 

“I went down the hall to the stairs, and it was like a shower. It was pouring down and covering the whole floor,” Martens said.

Martens and their roommate later received an email stating there was no remaining space in the Suites and they would need to move to West Hall or off campus. The two lived close enough to campus to move back home for a week until the university found room in West Hall, an option not available to all students. Martens said the quality of the West Hall dorms was significantly better than the Suites, and they did not face any issues while living there the rest of the semester.