Residents in Capstone House and South Quad have reported acts of vandalism, such as tearing down ceiling tiles, smearing ice cream cones on walls and elevators and stealing wet floor signs.
“It looked like they were replacing the ceiling because there were literally so many [tiles] missing,” said Catalina Roa, a first-year exercise science student and South Quad resident.
South Quad's residence life coordinator, Claudio Josuel Alejo, said in an email to residents that more than 30 ceiling tiles were destroyed and noted damage to whiteboards and signs throughout the building.
"[W]e are treating these matters with the utmost severity and sincerity," Alejo said. "It is neither fair nor appropriate to jeopardize your academic community with a sense of destruction or lack of respect to our home."
No one commented on the reasoning for the vandalism.
Roa was away the weekend in October when most of the ceiling tile damage in South Quad occurred. When she came back, she said she found ceiling tiles all over the floors. Alejo said the damage was primarily on the second, third and fourth floors, and there might be a communal student fee paid by the entire residence hall for the damage.
"Whoever is doing it should stop,” Roa said. “It’s extremely immature and unnecessary and also rude and inconsiderate for every party involved.”
Some students said the vandalism occurs at night when people are drunk, reckless and obnoxious. They also said they wonder why anyone would want to destroy his or her home.
If the perpetrators remain unidentified, first-year finance student Hayden Shipley said it is the responsibility of everyone on the floor to cover the cost of the damage.
“It's very inconsiderate of people who have to clean it,” Roa said. “[It is] also unfair to the rest of residents in South Quad who would have to pay a fine for something that they didn’t do.”
Area coordinator for Capstone House Josh Finch said in an email to residents that more than nine wet floor signs are missing, ceiling tiles are missing and ice cream was found in the elevator. He said he believes these are isolated incidents, and vandalism that happens is typically fixed and then billed to the entire floor.
"If you are one of the folks who’ve had fun breaking ceiling tiles and putting ice cream in the elevators – I encourage you to stop," Finch said. "People talk and when faced with being billed for your actions, your neighbors will certainly put you on blast."
Some students said the vandalism might not be by a person who lives on that floor or by a resident of that residence hall.
“We’re probably all going to end up getting charged for it, but what’s to say it wasn’t a visitor or someone from a different floor?” Shipley said.
Shipley says he does not believe all of the vandalism is intentional. He says breaking an exit sign or running into a wall could be an accident.
"Now, stealing nine wet floor signs,” Shipley said. “That’s intentional.”
Since the vandalism, security guards will now patrol and walk around South Quad to monitor the situation and prevent more damage.
“Students need to respect university property and the property of others,” university spokesperson Jeff Stensland said in an email. “We ask that students hold one another accountable and stop damaging their homes.”
Students in these residence halls have received emails from their area and residence life coordinators detailing the damage and the consequences. Students were encouraged to report any information they might have had to a housing staff member.
“As a whole, there's not any widespread [vandalism],” Shipley said. “It’s just the common theme of ignorance and just obnoxiousness.”