Boiling Point For a greater Loyola Loyola University New Orleans Since 1923 | March 21, 2025 Issue 7 | loyolamaroon.com
Students attend rally against execution By Eloise Pickering and Callie Honeycutt ewpicker@my.loyno.edu cbhoneyc@my.loyno.edu
different in operation, it had provided the same level of efficiency, and students had not experienced any noticeable difference in function. A multi-pronged approach had been taken by Loyola to improve campus infrastructure. A full assessment of all mechanical systems, including boilers, across both the Main and Broadway campuses is underway to determine repair and replacement priorities, costs, and potential energy efficiency upgrades, according to Gregore, along with consultations with the original mechanical engineer who had designed the campus’ existing boiler system to evaluate modern replacement options. A new asset management program has been implemented to transition from a reactive maintenance model to a proactive, lifecycle-based approach. This program is expected to be fully operational by summer, according to Gregore. Three alternative facilities—Xavier University, Tulane University, and portable shower units at Loyola—have been available for hot shower access for students in the dorms without hot water. Since the beginning of the outage, shuttle transportation has been provided by Loyola to the Xavier auditorium for access to showers in several locker rooms. Shuttles departed from Loyola’s campus every 30 minutes throughout the day. Additionally, Tulane’s Reily Student Recreation Center showers had been made available to Loyola students from the onset. If transportation assistance is required, the Loyola University Police Department provides on-demand shuttle service.
The state of Louisiana implemented a method of execution this month that advocates describe as cruel and unusual. Jessie Hoffman’s execution was the first carried out in Louisiana in a decade and a half, and it is the first to employ suffocation by nitrogen within the state. Hoffman was a 46-year old Louisianan native who had spent 26 years on death row. Nitrogen gas has been used only four other times to execute a person in the United States — all in Alabama, the only other state with a protocol for the method. Hoffman was executed due to the abduction, rape, and murder of 26-year old Molly Elliot in 1996. “Justice does not require the taking of another life,” said Sister Helen Prejean, a longtime advocate for abolishing the death penalty and author of the best-selling book “Dead Man Walking.” In the days leading up to the unprecedented execution, opponents to the death penalty and Hoffman's supporters rallied in a last-ditch effort to change the governor's mind. The rally, held outside the Governor’s Mansion, revolved around finding peace, justice, and abstaining from the death penalty in the name of God. At the time of the rally, Hoffman’s lawyers were working to appeal his death penalty. The Promise of Justice Initiative hosted the event with speakers coming out to address the crowd, including members of Jessie's family and other families who have lost loved ones to violence. August Bay, a Loyola religious studies junior and native New Orleanian, has been anti-death penalty their entire life. “We're all God's creatures, in a way, and we have no right to play God,” said Bay, one of numerous Loyola students who attended. Hoffman’s cousin and son both spoke at the rally. His cousin was tearful in asking for an appeal of his sentence. Hoffman’s son, Jessie Smith, said his father was a different man than how the media has portrayed him. “My words at the rally reflected a message of compassion, the dignity of every human life, and the belief in redemption,” said Lindy Brasher, a Minister for Social Justice to men living on death row at the Louisiana State Penitentiary. Brasher spoke at the rally on Sunday. “I stood in solidarity with those calling for an end to the death penalty and offered prayers for Jessie, his family, the victims' families, and all those impacted
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The new replacement steam boiler outside West Road Garage on March 17, 2025. Ava Dufrene/The Maroon
Students frustrated over hot water troubles By Alana Frank anfrank@my.loyno.edu
For weeks, Loyola University has been left in hot water— because they didn’t have any. What started as an equipment failure quickly escalated into a full-scale infrastructure crisis, leaving students with alternative shower options and the facilities team working around the clock to find a solution. Due to inclement weather, the new temporary boiler that replaced the failed boiler was damaged, and the university continues to deal with no hot water. Efforts had been made by the facilities team to resolve the issue by securing a temporary boiler and finding alternatives for students living on campus. The problem, which first occurred at the end of February and into Mardi Gras, was the result of a rupture that had occurred in the tubing of one of the two primary boilers, requiring it to be taken offline for repairs. Kyle Gregore, the director of facilities, gave insight into the efforts of the facilities team to combat the hot water issue. According to Gregore, an attempt had been made to activate the backup boiler, but a mechanical failure in the motor had led to it catching fire, rendering it inoperable. A specialized replacement part is required for the backup boiler, and will take approximately eight to 10 weeks to arrive. The part has been ordered and was expected to arrive in late April. The primary boiler experienced a similar tube rupture the previous year, and gaps in preventive water treatment methods had been identified, and modifications to the system were made.
“To enhance preventive maintenance, a proactive assessment of both boilers had been scheduled by the manufacturer for March 9,” Gregore said. “Unfortunately, the primary boiler had failed before that assessment could take place. A full-scale evaluation had been scheduled for April 1 to determine whether repair or full replacement would be the best long-term solution.” Gregore said the biggest challenge in resolving the hot water outage had been the age of the equipment and the difficulty of acquiring new parts. “Both boilers had been more than 20 years old, and replacement parts had no longer been commercially available,” Gregore said. “Parts had needed to be custom-manufactured, resulting in long lead times. Additionally, repairing boiler tubes had required highly specialized work, with only two companies in the region capable of performing these repairs.” Gregore emphasized the logistical delays that occurred when trying to secure and install a temporary rental boiler due to its size, weight, and power requirements. “The unit had needed to be shipped in multiple pieces from different locations and had required careful placement on campus,” Gregore said. Gregore said that after the first tube rupture occurred last year, a new water treatment program with a more advanced monitoring system had been implemented to improve maintenance and longevity. “Loyola’s two-boiler system had been designed for redundancy, with one unit operating while the other had been offline for rest or maintenance,” Gregore
said. The failure had occurred in the network of metal tubes that had carried superheated water across campus. Gregore said that the repair process had been time-consuming due to the age of the equipment and damage from a recent storm to the temporary boiler. “Over years of heating and cooling cycles, metal fatigue had developed in these tubes, leading to cracks,” Gregore said. “To repair them, the system needed to be shut down, cooled, and then have the damaged sections cut out and re-welded before being pressurized and brought back online—a process that had taken significant time.” The assessment of the boilers had been made a key priority in Loyola’s central plant capital project. This ongoing project had included a comprehensive evaluation of critical infrastructure to prevent future disruptions. When the facilities team tried to activate the backup boiler, a blown fuse had been discovered. Upon replacement, a fire had erupted from the motor, requiring the unit to be shut down immediately. Due to the boiler’s age, the damaged motor needed to be completely rebuilt, which required custom manufacturing and an estimated time of eight to 10 weeks, according to Gregore. The permanent boilers operated on a high-temperature hot water system, a closed-loop system of superheated water. Gregore said that due to the university’s extensive hot water needs, the only available rental unit capable of meeting demand was a steam boiler, which is what replaced the failed boiler. While