WATCH ABOVE: Moldy showers and open trash are some of the concerns raised by some students living at Pitman Hall. Peter Kim reports
TORONTO – Moldy showers and the stench of open garbage are just two concerns that students at Pitman Hall, one of Ryerson’s oldest residences, have voiced while cramming for exams and planning for their future.
Rachel Loconte is a first-year fashion design student who showed Global News the conditions in her shower
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MSKqlGkrIY
“The fact that I’m showering with mold inside, it’s pretty gross. Our drain gets clogged often. It’s not a place where you want to take a shower,” said Loconte, who revealed that she sometimes wears flip-flops inside.
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Another concern is open garbage in common areas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSt7TRAz-5k
Pitman Hall is a first-year residence with 14 floors and 565 rooms.
“Part of the challenge is that there are 550 students here 24/7, sometimes it gets messy,” said Ian Crookshank, Ryerson’s director of housing and residence life.
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Crookshank said sometimes bathrooms in individual dorm rooms don’t get as much attention because staff want to ensure privacy for residents.
Loconte says she notified Ryerson staff about the moldy showers, but little was done to remedy the situation.
“We let them know, and I think the solution was just keeping the fan on by taking away our light switch so that it stays on. I don’t like that; I wish they would clean it,” she said.
Crookshank said that if this were case, the response should have been different. “The response would be obviously to clean the mold.”
He notes, however, that 94% of students said they would recommend Ryerson residences to incoming student. Other results from that same student engagement survey conducted in the fall include the following:
- 80% of students were satisfied with their experience
- 88% indicated they felt a strong sense of community on their floor
- More than 90% felt connected to their campus and were proud to be a Ryerson student
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