Move-in day didn't go as expected for Shalya Mostyn, a sophomore who was among those taking up residence in Eastern Michigan University's newly renovated Downing Hall just before classes started.
Mostyn opened the door to her new home Aug. 25 to find a puddle of water and a hole in the wall.
First-year student Lydia Edwards moved into Hoyt Hall several days earlier, on Aug. 19, but as she and her roommate settled in, they discovered a problem in their bathroom sink.
"It was the ... drain," Edwards said. "The drain started coming up, and it would leave, like, dirt and sludge, and it would, like, slightly flood our bathroom."
In both cases, the students filed maintenance requests and university service teams arrived to solve the problems or move the students to other rooms. University officials, when asked, couldn't report the number of maintenance requests filed in the first weeks of the fall semester.
Melissa Thrasher, the university's executive director of media relations, said many of the water issues discovered during move-in and the first week of class were in part due to interference by Mother Nature.
"The night before move-in started, several areas of the state experienced 500-year storms with a tremendous amount of rainfall that caused widespread damage," Thrasher said. "Unfortunately, EMU wasn’t immune, and like other areas, the high volume of rain caused drains outside of Downing Hall to be clogged with debris. Facilities teams immediately worked to unclog drains and quickly resolved the issues."
The National Weather Service reported that the Ann Arbor-Ypsilanti area received nearly 3 inches of rain in a 24-hour period Aug. 25. Average rainfall for the area for the whole month of August is just above 3 inches.
Thrasher said plumbing issues also contributed to the flooding.
"Downing Hall has experienced a handful of plumbing issues linked to the inappropriate flushing of wet wipes, which clogged sewer lines," Thrasher said. "Work crews have responded quickly to rectify and clear those lines. It’s important we’re diligent with keeping our systems free from inappropriate objects flushed down toilets."
The record-breaking rain also caused flooding in the basement of McKenny Hall, forcing those who worked in the offices on that level to work from home and move to other campus buildings as repairs were made. Work has continued in McKenny's basement as of Sept. 15.
Downing is one of three residence halls on campus that saw extensive renovations over the past year, promising fall 2023 residents a host of upgrades, from central air conditioning to new electronic door locks, LED lighting and updated bathrooms.
"Downing Hall has been thoughtfully reimagined to offer contemporary, state-of-the-art amenities that cater to the needs of today's students," Thrasher said. "The modernized living spaces now provide a comfortable and engaging environment, fostering a sense of community, and belonging."
The renovations are part of Eastern Michigan University's Welcome Home plan, an effort to upgrade existing and build new residential living spaces for students. The centerpiece of the plan is a new residence hall complex under construction near University Pond and across from the Student Center. The new complex is scheduled to be ready for occupation in 2024.
This fall, the focus was on the renovations at Downing, Putnam and Walton Halls.
Thrasher said there have been some normal adjustments.
"Engineers are working to regulate temperature controls in Downing, but air conditioning in each room is not hindered," Thrasher said. "There aren’t any ongoing maintenance issues other than the room-specific cases that typically go through the work order process."
Mostyn said she was excited to be moving in, but instead of turnkey ready, she found her new digs to be closer to still under construction. First, the keycard lock on the door didn't work, she said. Then when she gained entrance, she was greeted by the damage: the stagnant water and the hole in the wall.
"Walking in, there was immediately like a smell of extremely harsh chemicals in the air," Mostyn said.
While she was a little shocked at the discovery, Mostyn said, she took it in good spirits as the campus housing team found her a new room.
"They [campus housing] checked everything. They checked the lock on the door, they checked the walls for holes, they checked the floor for puddles, they checked the water pressure," Mostyn said. "And so it was all perfect."
That is until around 11 p.m. when Mostyn said she and her mother heard the resident directly above her flush a toilet.
"We heard two gushes of water inside my wall," Mostyn said. "Imagine someone was just inside your wall and poured a bucket of water in your wall. That's what we heard."
Moments later, she said, they saw water seeping onto the floor.
"We noticed that the ... water was different colors," Mostyn said. "So, it is not just toilet water; it was toilet water and content."
So, she called the resident advisor who was on duty.
After sticking around to submit an emergency work order, Mostyn was forced to take her important possessions and leave campus. She went back home for the night. It was several days, however, before she was able to return to a residence on campus, and by then classes had started. But six days later, on Aug. 31, Mostyn moved into a new room for the third time.
"Honestly, although it was stressful, housing at EMU has been amazing," Mostyn said. "They've really been on top of this, and they really went ... the extra mile to make sure not only my new room would suit my accommodations, but to make sure that I wouldn't have to move again."
Jaida Turner, who lives in the Brown apartments, spent the second week of class without a shower.
"On Sept. 5, the water from our tub wouldn't drain. The lever to drain the water was stuck. ... My roommates tried many hacks to get the water down."
Turner said maintenance crews came to help but couldn't solve the problem. Eventually, campus housing brought in some plumbers who corrected the problem.
Over at Hoyt Hall, Edwards said she filed several maintenance requests on her room.
"So that Monday, it had like flooded really bad, and I put in the work order. But nobody came for the entire week," she said. "And I was putting in multiple work orders. I had the DA [desk assistant] put in work orders. I had the RA [resident advisor] put in work orders."
While she and her roommate waited, more rooms began to flood, she said.
"The final stage was, of course, the last few rooms flooding," Edwards said. "And even when we made ... an emergency ... work order, multiple of them, nobody came out until the day after. And that was ... the official move-in day I believe."
The rooms that flooded included Edwards' room, Edwards' suitemate's room, and a room two doors down from them, she said.
The "suitemates ... had to move in that same day as it was still wet, sopping wet, and terribly, terribly smelling ... which wasn't too great," Edwards said.
Hoyt is one of the older halls on campus that are targeted for eventual demolition in the Welcome Home plan. Also on that list, the university reports on its website, are Best, Brown-Munson Apartments, Buell, Hill, Pittman, and the old Westview Apartments.
Edwards is still living in the same room in Hoyt, and the sink is draining properly, she said. Now, she'll be filing a new maintenance request on the cold wet drip from the ceiling in her shower.
Editor's note: News editor Erin Flynn contributed to this report. Shayla Mostyn is a reporter for The Eastern Echo.
photo credit: Lyndia Edwards photo credit: Lyndia Edwards
