The first floor hall of Mary McLeod Bethune Hall flooded Wednesday after personnel from the Southern University Facilities Services Department accidentally turned on a water line that was shut down for repairs.
“We were working on a water line. The water had been shut off to the building for several days. It was (the) water that supplies heat to the building,” said Marilyn Hill, director of residential housing. “The water had been shut off since Monday. The repairman was there making repairs. Someone shut the water back on and caused the flood in the residence hall.”
Despite the numerous attempts to contact Eli Guillory, executive director for facility services, no comment was available.
It was not the first time the dormitory flooded. Pipes burst during the fall 2005 semester. Some residents said they feel Bethune Hall should be demolished.
“Every semester we always have problems in this dorm. It’s always something and they don’t try to get anything done,” said Latoya Campbell, a junior nursing major from Baton Rouge. “They’re always trying to cover it up. They been coming over here fixing the pipes. It just don’t make sense.”
Many of the students complained they would be not be reimbursed because others had not received compensation from last semester’s incident.
“Last semester we had tons of problems in here. It flooded like two or three times last semester and they keep saying, ‘We’re going to fix it,’ said Tyrice Munson, a senior nursing major from Shreveport. “Last semester, they didn’t reimburse some people whose clothes got messed up. They need to reimburse me and I need more than $2,000 of insurance that we are supposed to have.”
Munson estimated she had approximately $5000 in damage of her personal belongings.
Hill said insurance claims would be filed with the university insurance adjuster and the housing department had no control over what would be reimbursed and what would not.
“The university has an insurance adjuster on the campus. We file a report with that insurance adjuster and they will make an official report with the division of administration downtown and they will send an adjuster to the campus who comes out and looks at the items that have been damaged for reimbursement or replacement,” Hill said.
Hill said the clothing items that were wet as a result of the flood would be taken by the university to be laundered.
Later Wednesday evening, a Bethune Hall resident was arrested for disturbing the peace and refusing orders to leave the premises.
According to SU Police Department Chief Dale Flowers, a group of Bethune residents were gathered in the lobby of the resident hall when dorm director Lisa Hammond told them the lobby was closed. After protests, which included vulgarity and shouting, sophomore Chassity Milner was arrested.
Alana Leach, a sophomore business management major from New Orleans, said neither Hammond nor the police gave an official reason for shutting down the lobby.
“They had these young ladies that were talking amongst themselves about the problems that were going on and their concerns in the dormitory and she (Hammond) came out yelling, upset, (and) told them they need to move,” Leach said. “Some other young ladies came and the next thing you know, the police came and started yelling.
A meeting was held last night for dorm residents. Hill also issued a statement (see Viewpoints, pg. 10) apologizing to Bethune Hall residents and informing them of the proper procedure for filing insurance claims.