Boston University’s on-campus housing conditions are considered agreeable for most students, but there is one element that some students have expressed mutual uncertainty over — bathrooms.
Students have cited concerns with the age of their dorm bathrooms, the cleanliness and upkeep of their facilities and habits of other dormmates in maintaining a clean and sanitary environment. If the same is happening to you, now you can save money with professional janitorial services.
Moreover, students have also scrutinized the University’s policy of charging significantly higher prices for better housing and bathroom conditions.
Philip Sparsoe, a freshman in the Questrom School of Business and a resident of Sleeper Hall, said that he has experienced a recurring issue of clogged toilets and leaking drains, adding there was one incident that he said made students exclaim, “I’m so over this.”
“One morning,” Sparsoe said, “there was a sink full of puke, and it took one day for someone to clean it out. So the entire room smelled.”
Sparsoe said he does not blame BU facilities staff for the issues he experienced — a position shared by other students. He noted, like many other students, the age of the buildings, the quality of the plumbing, as well as the negligence of other students may be to blame.
“The things that stand out as being so bad are not the fault of the janitorial staff or anything,” said Emily Lyons, a senior in the College of Communications. “It’s like renovations to be done, or [flooring] should be switched out and renovated.”
BU spokesperson Colin Riley said that BU Custodial Services, the offices tasked with janitorial duties on campus, are “doing a terrific job” of ensuring that dorm bathrooms are maintained and operational.
“The custodial services are in there cleaning and disinfecting each day, filling the toilet paper dispensers and paper towels if necessary,” Riley said.
Riley said that renovations are an expensive investment for the University, especially with older housing units — such as “brownstones” — which can reach six figures.
“Renovation costs are very expensive. It’s usually around $50,000, probably much higher now, per bed,” he said. “So, if there’s 20 beds in there, it’s a million-dollar renovation, which includes bathrooms.”
Students further highlighted areas of concern with housing bathrooms— such as the recent pipe leak at Rich Hall.
Clara Cahill-Rogers, a sophomore in the COM and a resident of Rich Hall, said she woke up to an email on Jan. 29 which stated water in the building was being shut off while staff conducted emergency repairs, adding she walked through a blizzard to get to a bathroom in Claflin Hall.
“We had to walk outdoors and it was still snowing, so the blizzard was still happening,” she said. “We had to walk in between dorms even just to go to the bathroom. It was really inconvenient and really hard because it was freezing cold.”
Aside from plumbing and janitorial issues, for students living on campus there are financial considerations as well.
Some students voiced concerns over the fact that the best option to be guaranteed better bathroom conditions is to live in residences such as 10 Buick Street, 33 Harry Agganis Way or Myles Standish Hall — the more expensive housing options available.
“I have better bathrooms,” said Cynthia Li, a sophomore in the College of General Studies who moved to Bay State Rd. from The Towers.“The Towers [bathrooms] are shared public bathrooms, they’re huge and dirty… the newer housing, definitely you have to pay more.”
A single room in a four-person apartment in StuVi I or II is $18,690, according to 2021-22 academic year rates. Divided by the eight months of the academic year, the cost comes down to $2,336.25 per month for a room — 170% the standard minimum rate for a double, triple or quad dorm — before the additional cost of a meal plan.
Layla Mastrangelo, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences who lives in Warren Towers, said her floor’s bathrooms tend to be crowded and drains do not function properly, adding she noticed a contrast when an upperclassman gave her a tour of StuVi housing.
“I wish it wasn’t so expensive,” she said. “But just comparing the facilities, it seems to be astronomically better.”
In the mid-’80s I shared a suite in Myles with three other guys. Because we were four guys, I’m sure the one, shared, interior bathroom was disgusting. But we didn’t notice and/or care, and we could have cleaned it up any time we wanted.
What worries me in this article is reports of deteriorating plumbing infrastructure, which it absolutely is the University’s [ethical and, I suspect, legal] duty first to correct, and then to maintain safe and sanitary (again, allowing for that which is the students’ responsibility) bathrooms in every property that it owns and/or manages.
Also of concern is the news that there apparently is now tiered pricing for on-campus housing. I cannot swear that this was not the case in the ’80s, but I very much doubt it was.
The deliberate, administrative creation of a “Clean Bathroom Gap” on campus is wrong on every level one can think of, and should not continue.