This fall 2024 semester began with a new energy. VTSU Johnson saw an increase in enrollment, making the campus seem almost as lively as it had been in the past. Students settled in as the summer heat slowly began to lessen, Vermont nights casting a chill through the residence halls as fall settled itself in. Then, on September 9, students received an email from Alana Grissom, Johnson’s new residence hall director.
“Unfortunately, each floor of [Governors] South has lost hot water for the showers,” it read. “We ask that you be patient with us as Facilites handles the situation. Currently, there is not an estimate of when the showers will have hot water again.”
Students were given permission to use locker room showers in the Shape Gym as well as Senators North and South residence halls, where faculty and staff members are housed. Areas were blocked off to keep student access limited to the bathrooms. Three update emails and sixteen days later, hot water returned to Govs South on September 25.
The campus faced no major issues for the next three weeks.
Then, two problems hit Johnson on October 14. First, students received an email letting them know that the Stearns Elevator had broken down, leaving the stairs as the only way to get to the mailroom and dining hall. This isn’t the first time the campus has had this issue. “The Hellevator” has a history of breaking down at least once a year, often drawing food inaccessibility concerns from students.
Fifty minutes after that news was received, another email came to student inboxes: Govs North had lost both heat and hot water. Students received a third email an hour later, reading that the boiler was adjusted, and heat should be on its way back. However, another email was sent out the following day, alerting the community that the problem had spread to the Arthur’s residence hall, leaving both halls void of warmth. Mostly, at least. In that final email, students were told that Arthur’s should still have “lukewarm” water, but residents could still use Shape to take showers if they wished. And if that weren’t enough, the elevator in the Willey Library broke down the following day, this time trapping student worker Teo Holmes between the basement level loading dock and the second floor.
Teo had been asked by Alice Godin, the resource sharing coordinator, to retrieve a book request, The Devils by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, from the third floor. Holmes had retrieved the book and was exploring the back cover when they realized the elevator had stopped, but the doors did not open. Instead of the number one button being lit up on the side panel, the letter “R” button was glowing yellow, the loading dock floor that could only be accessed using a special key.
“At that moment I knew there was a problem,” said Holmes.
They alerted Jeffery Angione, the circulation coordinator, who came to the doors to check if they were okay.
Those moments “felt like an eternity,” said Holmes, “with The Devils staring back at me.”
Holmes was stuck in the elevator for about 15 minutes. Finally, Godin was able to open the rear door of the elevator from inside the loading dock.
“I celebrate! My savior … had used the special key to open the rear door. As we made our way back, every worker in the library is out of position and (I hope) slightly worried. I assured everyone I met that I was safe, and the crisis had been averted.”
Holmes wrote that they weren’t nervous at first.
“I was so aware that if I let myself freak out, I would lose my rationality.”
But directly after the incident, they began to feel anxiety.
“I’m very claustrophobic. MRIs, dark caves, anything of that variety is enough to make me panic. Thankfully the elevator was big enough and I wasn’t restricted in any way, so I wasn’t worried to the point of a panic attack.”
Thankfully, both the elevators and heating problems were resolved two days later, but the chatter among the University community is still that of concern.
The latest catastrophe to hit the campus was also in the residence halls, with the automatic lock on the Govs door breaking. Though the issue is now resolved, the door had been unlocked for a week. In previous semesters, students in residence halls saw mold growth and water damage to ceilings as a result of leakages, and other buildings like the Stearns Dining Hall and Willey Library have come to expect leaks every year with rain and snow. Problems with the infrastructure of campus amenities are not uncommon, and it’s becoming more obvious there is a desperate need for serious investment.