Anonymous whistleblowers are blaring alarms about mold problems plaguing multiple University of Memphis dorms.
It has been reported that Housing and Residence Life knows about mold issues but has not done anything to physically address students’
concerns.
“There are a few rooms we've had to completely close due to mold growing up the walls. Instead of fixing it, my bosses just lock the room,” said an anonymous Resident Advisor whistleblower at a women’s dorm, who will be referred to as Jane.
“It was disgusting. The walls were wet,” she said describing the locked rooms.
Another RA whistleblower, who will be referred to as Blake, lives at a co-ed dorm. They reported a smell coming from an air conditioning unit. While maintenance told Blake there was no mold, Blake provided The Helmsman with an image showing otherwise.
Both whistleblowers said they must classify mold as “organic growth”, until tested, when referring to it to residents. However, on the app RAs use to file maintenance reports, there is an option for cleaning and reporting mold, not “organic growth.”
“They have to get certain things tested before they'll remove it. Otherwise, they'll just say ‘wipe it down and you’ll be fine’...Testing for mold is not a high priority on the list,” Jane said.
She informed The Helmsman that her supervisors asked RAs to tear down flyers asking students to report mold and threatened that any RA that spoke to reporters would be fired. Supervisors asked RAs to check their contracts for a media clause and Jane said there was not one.
A flyer that was put up in the University Center and in Clement Hall was torn down. The Helmsman was not able to find out who tore the flyer down.
Multiple students have mentioned concerns about mold, especially in older dorm halls like Rawls and Smith.
“There is an attitude with management that says, ‘just deal with it’ and doesn't take resident safety seriously. They are more concerned with covering their own butts than actually helping people,” Jane said.
Mold can pose a serious threat, especially to those with lung problems. It can cause coughing, sneezing, eye irritation, congestion, and
worsening asthma. In rare cases, it can result in serious illness or death according to the Cleveland Clinic.
“People with asthma or allergies frequently have to leave Rawls and Smith due to something like that [mold],” according to Jane.
Freshman Elyssia Smith said that she witnessed and knew people who had to move from South Hall to another dorm hall because of mold-related issues.
“I’ve been in South (Hall) many times and the bathroom was so disgusting and smelled awful,” Smith said.
Most people that The Helmsman spoke with said that they believed that maintenance was poor in the dorms.
“Rawls and Smith are the last consideration when it comes to maintenance and care, and that is reflected at every level of residence life
operation,” Jane said.
Students Lori Pound and Elyssa Smith both said they felt like dorm buildings did not feel like clean environments.
Jane said the reason why the mold problem hasn't been fixed is the backlog in maintenance.
Mel Eleftheriou and Grace Regan, both current Daily Helmsman writers put a Mold Armor® test kit in their dorms in South Hall and LLC to test mold and air quality. The tests included the dorms of our own writers and another student. Both kits had mold growth.
They also took photos throughout Rawls, South, and LLC dorms of what they believed was mold and reached out to a remodeling firm that deals with mold removal for confirmation.
"Those pictures show mold in the HVAC system, the ceiling tiles, the duct work, the tub, the shower walls and through the [dorms],” said Pinegrove Remodeling & Restoration representative Issac Brown.
There were multiple attempts to contact the Student Health Center and Housing and Residence Life to ask questions regarding the mold problems, but they did not respond.
