Mwah, No Water? The Boley Blues and Other Housing Troubles

On the Friday afternoon of February 16, 2024, Boley Residential Hall experienced a major water line break. This resulted in the water being turned off throughout the entire building to ensure no other part of the dormitory was affected. According to the postings spread around the building, the outage was only supposed to occur from 1 p.m. until 3 p.m. that day. As the evening concluded, residents of Boley began to unwind from the long week until they realized something essential was off: the water.
Students did not panic immediately and began reaching out to each other via group chats or direct messaging, to determine if other floors or units had water restored. To no avail, students did not report the water being turned back on until the next day; for some, the water did not return until Saturday afternoon.
Despite these reports, after being asked what transpired that day, Southern’s Department of Housing stated, “There was not an extended period where the water was not on.” It was also disclosed that while the building’s water pressure may have taken longer than expected to reach status quo levels a staff member stated, “The water was never off for an extended period, like a day.”
Although Housing declared that the water was never off for a long time, residents of Boley countered with this not being accurate with some residents reporting to not have water for up to two nights. Some students reported to only having a working toilet, however, this was not the case for all residents. A junior Majoring in Fashion Merchandising, Genesus Hammond resides in Boley. Hammond lives on the sixth floor and asserted, “For my unit specifically – there was no water.” Due to her dorm not having any water at all, she was forced to journey over 70 miles back home to New Orleans just to use the restroom and take a shower. Not all students are fortunate enough to have the option of traveling back home.
The lack of water is not the only headache that students face while living in the dorms. Oftentimes the elevator will not be working, which is a major inconvenience for students who reside on the upper levels. Hammond can personally testify to this after being trapped in the Boley elevator alone. Hammond revealed, “I just got stuck and nobody could get me out until the Fire Department came.” She also stated she is not mad, but more disappointed because she wanted to have high hopes, or high standards, for her HBCU.
Boley is not the only dormitory that faces problems like these consistently. Jacob Keelen is a freshman majoring in Business Management and lives in Jones Hall on Southern’s campus. Keelen confirmed, “We have had some separate instances where we’ve had the water either A–be off for a certain amount of time or B–just be cold.” These conditions can be exhausting at times for students who are trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle and stress-free environment while miles away from home.
Southern is not the only HBCU facing dormitory adversities such as these. Examples of HBCU students protesting and exposing their living conditions can be dated back to 2021 when students at Howard University took action. This resulted in Howard’s administration agreeing to listen to the students while they addressed concerns. Hopefully, Howard’s decision to listen to their student body and start working toward a better tomorrow for their students could potentially influence other HBCUs.
Nevertheless, the entire Jaguar Nation has not lost hope. As previously referenced, Keelen later confirmed he is still “super proud to be a jag.” He continued, “The fact that I just have the opportunity to be at this school, and be within this curriculum, as is, is just more important to me.” In the future, if Southern students do not have water or any essentials, they are encouraged to scan the QR code on the back of their doors to begin a work order.