Damages at sophomore Alexis Rosenblum's residence in Edens Quadrangle 2A have been occurring since day one.
"The first week that we were here, there was a door from our hallway into the common room. I opened the door and there was a shovel stuck in a huge pile of vomit," she said.
Rosenblum's experience only marked the beginning of a slew of damages afflicting Edens 2A, which eventually got worse over the course of the academic year. The section has incurred $8,200 in damage costs since the beginning of the year, Eddie Hull, dean of residence life and executive director of housing services, wrote in an e-mail to residents Tuesday night.
Although Edens 2A is an independent section, it houses some members of the off-campus fraternities Phi Theta Sigma, formerly Theta Chi, and Alpha Delta Phi, formerly Sigma Alpha Epsilon. RLHS officials said the costs of property damages in West Campus residence halls often correlate with the existence of fraternity and selective living groups.
"Our damage and excessive cleaning statistics [for the past three years] show very clearly that the vast majority of our damages and excessive cleaning issues take place in our more socially-oriented [selective living groups]," Deb LoBiondo, assistant dean for residence life on West Campus, wrote in an e-mail. "[However,] this is not exclusive of our fraternities."
Edens, home to approximately 530 residents, four fraternity sections and two SLGs, has the highest damage fees so far this year at $17,000, according to figures compiled by LoBiondo. Craven Quadrangle-with 370 residents, three fraternity sections and one SLG-follows with $11,000 in damage costs, and Few Quadrangle-with 430 residents, three fraternity sections and two SLGs-has incurred $10,000 in costs.
"We've had some challenges in [Kappa Alpha Order] section, as well as in the [Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity] and Wayne Manor sections," LoBiondo said.
Although representatives from KA and Pike declined to comment, Wayne Manor President Ellis Wisely, a junior, said damages in his section were not significantly high.
Shawhan Lynch, West Campus residential facilities manager, said although fraternity sections are more likely to have damages because of open social events they hold in section, damages vary among sections depending on different factors.
"There are some fraternities that cause more damage and some good fraternities that don't," she said. "[There are also] selective living groups that cause probably as much damage as the fraternities. It just depends on the leadership for that year, the communication level and the work of the residence coordinators."
She added that more damages tend to occur at the beginning of the Fall semester and throughout fraternity rush and the basketball season.
Some fraternity presidents, however, said damage costs may be high in their respective quads because selective groups are more easily identifiable for their respective damages.
"The reason I think damages are significantly higher in fraternity and selective living [sections] is because there is someone to be held accountable," said senior Drew Hoffman, former president of Delta Tau Delta fraternity. "If there's damage left in the independent common room, it's quickly cleaned up. But if there's damages left in a fraternity common room, then we have to pay for it."
University policies require fraternities and selective living groups to pay for damages in their section, whether or not it can be proved that they actually caused them.
Campus Council President Ryan Todd, a senior, said although the issue of whether independent sections should use their quad money to pay for damages comes up every year, Campus Council officially wrote a resolution this year supporting the current policy for payments by selective groups.
More recently, however, RLHS has also had difficulties with damages in independent sections, LoBiondo said. She added that Edens 2A has incurred the worst damages of these sections.
Edens Residence Coordinator Jon Acton said there have been more than $2,300 in damage costs in the first two months of the Spring semester in Edens 2A, almost equal to the amount of damages from the entire first semester.
As a result of the high damage costs, Hull said RLHS will not extend accommodation to section residents through commencement this year-an option that is historically offered to all upperclassmen.
Joe Gonzalez, associate dean for residential life, said because it is harder to deal with constant damages in independent sections because of a lack of a group hierarchy, a floor meeting is usually called to discuss the problems. In extreme situations, certain individuals are relocated.
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