Repeated, Significant Vandalism Plagues Jackson Hall

Garrett Kirk ’24

News Editor

The Tripod investigated the vandalism that occurred in Jackson Hall over the weekend of Mar. 12.

According to an email sent by Residential Learning Coordinator Daniel Levy there were “lounge chairs broken/damaged,” “holes in walls created by thrown chairs,” “trash cans knocked over and spilled in hallways,” “trash cans emptied onto floors of bathrooms,” “paper towel and toilet paper dispensers broken,” “broken bottles in bathrooms, shower stalls, and stairwells,” and “food thrown on hallway floors.”

Levy additionally said in his email to residents of Jackson Hall that “[a]side from being disrespectful to your peers in Jackson, these incidents represent a safety and hygiene hazard to residents and to the custodial staff who was responsible for cleaning up. In addition to the damage, it’s [sic] been reported that several residents were being disruptive by yelling in the hallways and banging on doors.”

As a result of these transgressions, a mandatory meeting was held for all Jackson residents via Zoom on Thursday, Mar. 18.

Dean of Student Life and Director of The Bantam Network Dr. Jody Goodman and Assistant Dean and Coordinator of Student Standards John Selders accompanied Levy in hosting the meeting.

After condemning the actions in the meeting and calling for accountability, it was stated that the costs of the damages were to be equally distributed among all Jackson residents—even those not involved in the incident. Housing lottery points were threatened to be taken away from all Jackson residents as punishment, although it was unclear if this was definite.

One Jackson resident told the Tripod that “as someone who doesn’t cause any damage to property or even create simple noise disturbances in the Jackson Hall dorm, the proposition of every resident splitting the cost of damages created by a few of the residents is extremely upsetting. I felt that those in charge of the meeting handled this situation unfairly by threatening to worsen our lottery numbers and make us all pay.”

This student additionally said that “I honestly feel unsafe sometimes because of the ruckus caused in the dorm, and I would really hate to be punished for things that make me feel endangered. It’s already bad enough living near some of these people. I wish those responsible would come forward, but unfortunately they don’t have much incentive to do so, as it was made very clear that it will be less expensive for them not to.”

Another student told the Tripod that “I don’t find it fair to the people that weren’t involved at all and have no idea [who was responsible for the vandalism].”

The Tripod reached out to Dan Levy twice for comment prior to this article’s publication but did not receive a response to its requests.