Messy students force campus cleanup
Kat Timpf
Issue date: 4/24/08 Section: News
Away from parents, Hillsdale College students often leave belongings behind when they clean their dorm rooms at the school year's end.
Senior Dan Burfiend, resident director of Niedfelt Residence and former resident assistant in Simpson Residence, said some students do a poor job of cleaning up.
"In Simpson, people don't put beds back together," Burfiend said. "Sometimes there are beer cans. [Once] 'ATO' was written in the carpet."
Students who leave items behind force resident assistants, housekeepers and house directors to clean up the mess.
Suites House Director Patricia Corboy said students moving out of the Suites leave behind furniture, computers, food and other things that add to two piles about six feet high each.
More people leave things in the Suites than in other residence halls, simply because most of the dormitory's residents are graduating seniors who do not need many of their things anymore, she said.
"The majority [of items] are kitchen-related or desk items. Some people leave really nice things behind. There are lots of pairs of guys' pants," Corboy said.
The mountains take about a week to sort out, she said.
"[It's] pretty much a small Goodwill store," Corboy said.
Director of Security Mike Wertz said the amount of items left behind is small because RAs generally make sure the rooms are clean before students are allowed to leave.
"It's not a huge amount of stuff," Wertz said. "Three to four boxes a dorm, and not [from] all dorms."
Wertz said things left behind stay in the dorms over summer so students can pick them up when they return in August. Unclaimed items go to the Board of Women Commissioners, which holds a rummage sale on campus every September.
Nancy Ritz, a college housekeeper for seven years, said housekeepers could formerly keep forgotten items, but now the college donates those items the sale. Ritz said she has discovered a lot during spring cleaning.
"I've found clothes, jewelry and things, money. One girl left a whole drawer full of shorts and the dean got a hold of her," Ritz said. "In [a] rental [house,] someone left a microwave."
House Director Judith Schellhammer of Whitley Residence said she has found a few interesting odds and ends left in the dorm. A bicycle was once left there for two years.
Ritz said most students get their belongings back.
"Usually you report it and they get a hold of you," Ritz said. "You know who's in the room. That's why I like to have a kind of good knowledge of who's who, so I can say, 'That's so-and-so's.'"
Senior Dan Burfiend, resident director of Niedfelt Residence and former resident assistant in Simpson Residence, said some students do a poor job of cleaning up.
"In Simpson, people don't put beds back together," Burfiend said. "Sometimes there are beer cans. [Once] 'ATO' was written in the carpet."
Students who leave items behind force resident assistants, housekeepers and house directors to clean up the mess.
Suites House Director Patricia Corboy said students moving out of the Suites leave behind furniture, computers, food and other things that add to two piles about six feet high each.
More people leave things in the Suites than in other residence halls, simply because most of the dormitory's residents are graduating seniors who do not need many of their things anymore, she said.
"The majority [of items] are kitchen-related or desk items. Some people leave really nice things behind. There are lots of pairs of guys' pants," Corboy said.
The mountains take about a week to sort out, she said.
"[It's] pretty much a small Goodwill store," Corboy said.
Director of Security Mike Wertz said the amount of items left behind is small because RAs generally make sure the rooms are clean before students are allowed to leave.
"It's not a huge amount of stuff," Wertz said. "Three to four boxes a dorm, and not [from] all dorms."
Wertz said things left behind stay in the dorms over summer so students can pick them up when they return in August. Unclaimed items go to the Board of Women Commissioners, which holds a rummage sale on campus every September.
Nancy Ritz, a college housekeeper for seven years, said housekeepers could formerly keep forgotten items, but now the college donates those items the sale. Ritz said she has discovered a lot during spring cleaning.
"I've found clothes, jewelry and things, money. One girl left a whole drawer full of shorts and the dean got a hold of her," Ritz said. "In [a] rental [house,] someone left a microwave."
House Director Judith Schellhammer of Whitley Residence said she has found a few interesting odds and ends left in the dorm. A bicycle was once left there for two years.
Ritz said most students get their belongings back.
"Usually you report it and they get a hold of you," Ritz said. "You know who's in the room. That's why I like to have a kind of good knowledge of who's who, so I can say, 'That's so-and-so's.'"
Be the first to comment on this story