Vol-118-Iss-7

Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2021 I Vol. 118 Iss. 7

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INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER • SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

What’s inside Opinions

The editorial board emphasizes the need for inclusivity in the presidential search. Page 6

Culture

Learn how to support Afghan refugees in the District during their resettlement process. Page 7

Sports

Get to know Nya Lok, who played on the international stage this summer. Page 8

Townhouse Row residents hospitalized following reports of mold, water leaks

GRACE HROMIN | SENIOR PHOTO EDITOR Sheets of plastic covered furniture and appliances in Kappa Delta and Alpha Phi’s townhouses alongside equipment from Belfor Property Restoration, which conducts mold removal and remediation services.

ABBY KENNEDY

ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

ISHA TRIVEDI NEWS EDITOR

ZACHARY BLACKBURN ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

Multiple Townhouse Row residents have sought medical attention for respiratory issues in recent days amid reports of mold that led officials to relocate 175

students to hotels Sunday night. Officials said they received two reports of “environmental concerns” from separate townhouses Tuesday and Friday, leading to an assessment that detected water infiltration and found conditions “conducive to biological growth.” Some students who were displaced from Townhouse Row said they’ve been hospitalized at the GW Hospital and other health care facilities after experiencing symptoms that align with mold

exposure, including nasal congestion, fevers and fits of coughing up blood. University spokesperson Maralee Csellar said more investigation is necessary to identify the source of the contamination before officials perform work to “remedy the underlying issue.” “We are hearing of a few instances where students have independently sought medical attention on their own,” Csellar said in an email. “They are now letting us

know of their symptoms because they are aware of the communications we have issued. We appreciate these students reaching out to let us know of their health situation as it helps us in our ongoing investigation.” Csellar said officials did not transport any students to the hospital and were not aware of any students who were admitted for treatment overnight. Residents of Townhouse Row boarded shuttles and moved their belongings to the River Inn and Yours Truly hotels Sunday night during the evacuations. “As the health and safety of our students is our number one priority and out of an abundance of caution while the work is being performed, we made the decision to immediately move all residents from the complex for the duration of this situation,” Csellar said. Sheets of plastic covered furniture and appliances in Kappa Delta and Alpha Phi’s townhouses as of Monday night. Equipment from Belfor Property Restoration, which performs mold removal and remediation services, was visible in the townhouses belonging to Kappa Delta, Alpha Phi, Sigma Chi and the National Pan-Hellenic Council. A Belfor Property Restoration spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment. Helena Balch, a junior and the housing manager for Sigma Delta Tau, said she moved into Townhouse Row in early August and noticed water infiltrating the building through a leak in her room every time it rained. Balch said she filed a FixIt report each

Students embrace revamped dining plan set to expand campus food options KATRINA HAUSER REPORTER

See STUDENTS Page 5

Faculty senators raise concerns about HVAC updates ISHA TRIVEDI

ZACHARY BLACKBURN

NEWS EDITOR

ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

After years of advocacy for a reformed dining plan, students said the newly announced dining halls set to open on campus next fall could enhance food accessibility and sense of community at GW. Officials unveiled plans last week for the University’s new dining system that will feature three new dining halls with all-you-can-eat service next fall in Shenkman and Thurston halls as well as District House, shutting down most GWorld vendors operating in those buildings. Student leaders from the Student Association, Residence Hall Association and other student organizations collaborated with officials to devise the new system, which students said can break down food insecurity and barriers to dietary restrictions. The current dining system, an open dining one that requires students to use dining cash to purchase food from grocery stores or restaurants, has faced years of criticism from members of the GW community for not providing students with enough money for food throughout the semester. Kate Carpenter, the SA’s vice president, said she supports the new plan and hopes the dining system will be more accessible because of its diverse meal options and proximity to residence halls, and she hopes the revamped service will help tackle food insecurity at GW. A report from 2018 found nearly 40 percent of students faced food insecurity on campus, and officials increased GWorld dining cash balances for three consecutive years after many students said insufficient funds made meals more difficult to afford. “They really saw a need to solve food insecurity, and even though not all students at GW struggle with food insecurity, one is one too many that struggles with food insecurity,” Carpenter said. “And so I think any measures that are taken to help that are important and are a must.” Officials will start requiring students living on the Mount Vernon Campus this year to purchase the Pelham Plan, which costs $5,200 per

time she noticed the leak, but by the time FixIt staff arrived, the rain stopped and staff were unable to identify the exact source. “So now that we’ve actually evacuated the house because of water infiltration, I’m like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s probably what was going on,’” she said. She said nine of the 17 residents in her sorority have complained of some sort of illness in the past week, but everyone has tested negative for COVID-19. “One of our residents went to urgent care probably about a week ago and was told she had a lung infection, but they weren’t quite sure what was causing it,” she said. “So they put her on a whole dose of antibiotics, and it still has not really cleared up.” Sophomore Isabella LeBlanc, a resident at the Kappa Delta townhouse, said many of her housemates experienced similar, coldlike symptoms that ranged from mild coughs and runny noses to a resident who coughed up blood. She said mold was visible in and around air vents, bedrooms, bathrooms, showers and on paint near the staircase. LeBlanc said she saw mold on the air vents situated above residents’ beds, where mold spores were “raining down” on sleeping students. She said one member of Kappa Delta was hospitalized because of concerns of a potential respiratory infection hours before students were ordered to evacuate Sunday, and several others transported themselves to the emergency room Monday.

GRACE HROMIN | SENIOR PHOTO EDITOR The University transitioned to an open dining plan in 2016 following the closure of J Street, the Foggy Bottom Campus’ only communal dining hall at the time.

year, according to GW’s dining website. The Pelham Plan grants students eight allyou-can-eat meals at Pelham Commons each week and an additional $3,240 in dining cash that can be used by the student at GWorld vendors. Foggy Bottom residents spend $3,234 per year if they have a kitchen and $5,038 per year if they don’t have a kitchen, but students can also purchase the Pelham Plan, according to the website. Junior Anna Weber, the SA’s vice president for campus operations, served on the University’s dining steering committee throughout the last academic year to advise the creation of the plan alongside a handful of student leaders, GW leadership and University staff. She said she worked on the new system with officials since the beginning of the planning process last fall, and building dining halls will help make campus a more welcoming environment. “Having seen the entire process from start to finish, I have confidence that GW made the right decision bringing residential dining back to campus in terms of contracting and implementation,” Weber said in an email. “It’s well known that dining and sharing food is one of the best ways to create community, and I have hope that with the implementation of a hybrid residential and retail

model, GW will start to feel like home more quickly for more students.” Weber said the dining plan will still provide many options for students who are vegan or vegetarian or other students who face allergies. She added that students can also communicate with officials on an individual basis if additional dietary accommodations need to be met. “Under this new plan, you should be easily able to find good food no matter if you’re vegan, eat kosher, are allergic to certain ingredients or have any other common dietary needs,” she said. “Additionally, I believe GW will be committing to working with students on a one-on-one basis if needed to ensure everyone has healthy, good food to eat that meets their needs.” Officials emphasized that they will offer plenty of options for students with dietary restrictions, like those who are vegan or vegetarian, but some students said they worry that the new system will not have suitable options for their dietary needs. Junior Elise Fuente said she has been looking forward to a change to the dining system since her freshman year at GW, because the open dining plan was not ideal for creating a positive community or managing time efficiently while cooking at home or walking to a restaurant. She said many students don’t

know how to cook and that there wasn’t enough money on the plans to consistently eat out at restaurants. Fuente said limited kitchen space in Thurston Hall her freshman year caused people she knew to deliberately skip meals because the area was too busy and eating out could be too expensive for the limited dining dollars given to students. Freshman Maurianna Kowalski said the new plan could help her save money in the District, especially because restaurants in the Foggy Bottom area can be expensive. She said adding traditional dining halls and keeping various D.C. restaurants as GWorld vendors could provide a good combination of choice and affordability for students. Freshman Hannah Reynolds said she is a vegan with sensitive food needs, and the new plan makes her nervous because previous experiences with dining hall food at a boarding school didn’t meet her needs. She said she is worried that students may be forced to eat at dining halls that are not suitable for strict dietary restrictions, like sensitive stomach issues that she faces. “Having dietary issues, cafeterias and cafeteria spaces sometimes aren’t the most friendly to that and allergies,” she said. “So I wonder how that will impact people.”

A group of faculty senators introduced a resolution last week saying officials spread misinformation about their HVAC upgrade timeline, calling on them to release additional data to increase transparency. Officials indicated in June that they completed work to retrofit the University’s HVAC systems with reopening guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers. But Scott Burnotes, the vice president for safety and facilities, issued a new statement late last month, saying officials failed to provide enough context and their HVAC renovations are a “work in progress” that will be completed by the end of this week. A group of faculty, who proposed a resolution Friday for this week’s Faculty Senate meeting, said officials informed the senate’s executive and physical facilities committees last month that many of GW’s buildings were “not well aligned” with ASHRAE’s COVID-19 reopening guidelines for schools and universities. Officials are still installing additional MERV13 and HEPA filters, which experts recommend to block the spread of the coronavirus, in 34 buildings as of Monday night. Burnotes said in last month’s email that all University buildings are currently aligned with CDC and ASHRAE guidelines. He said officials found all HVAC systems are “working properly” following an assessment of all of GW’s buildings last year. “We’ve gone through the process that the [CDC and ASHRAE] guidance has recommended for us to follow to make the buildings as safe as possible,” Burnotes said in an interview. “We followed that process, we’ve determined that the buildings are safe to operate and we will continue to do so when the guidance or recommendations change.” He said officials conducted preventative maintenance on various buildings and spent about $6 million on upgrades to 24 campus buildings, including residence halls and academic facilities. Burnotes’ statement last month included a link to a spreadsheet with all of GW’s buildings and the status of the High Efficiency Particulate Air filters or MERV-13 or equivalent filters currently installed in those buildings. MERV refers to Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value, or a filter’s ability to catch particles of a certain size. Air filters are ranked on a 20-point MERV scale, with higher values indicating greater filtration efficiency. HEPA filters, which have a MERV level of 17, can remove nearly all mold, dust, pollen and bacteria, according to the EPA. ASHRAE recommends HVAC systems use MERV-13 filters to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, but any filter above MERV-13 would be “preferred.” ASHRAE’s guidelines state that MERV-13 filters are the “recommended minimum” in schools and universities, but MERV-14 are preferred. As of Sept. 3, the total number of buildings with work still needed to install a HEPA or MERV13 equivalent filter stood at 45, but that number dropped to 34 as of Monday night. The spreadsheet indicates that officials updated 11 buildings over the weekend with filters of at least a MERV-13 ranking, but no HEPA filters were installed. See SENATORS Page 4