• About
  • Editorial Board
    • Staff Writers
  • Advertise
  • Join Us
  • Archives
The Wellesley News -
  • News and Features
    • Professor Phillip Levine Discusses “A Problem of Fit”
      Professor Phillip Levine Discusses “A Problem of Fit”
    • CS Department shifts CS 111 course structure
      CS Department shifts CS 111 course structure
    • WAMI and WRJ host discussion on criminalization of abortion
      WAMI and WRJ host discussion on criminalization of abortion
    • News
      • News in Brief
      • Nation & World
      • President’s Corner
      • Senate Report
    • Features
      • Alumnae Spotlight
      • Eye on Science
      • Faculty Focus
      • LGBTQIA+ Column
  • Opinions
    • Andrew tate: ending the cycle of toxic masculinity
      Andrew tate: ending the cycle of toxic masculinity
    • Turn it off: healing from news fatigue in the digital age
      Turn it off: healing from news fatigue in the digital age
    • Let them eat bread: the unequal effects of food price inflation
      Let them eat bread: the unequal effects of food price inflation
    • Staff Editorial
    • Letters to the Editor
    • The Elephant in the Room
  • Arts
    • The 95th Academy Awards Nominations: The Cool and The Controversial
      The 95th Academy Awards Nominations: The Cool and The Controversial
    • Lucy Dacus Brings a Minimal Yet Powerful Performance to Northeastern University
      Lucy Dacus Brings a Minimal Yet Powerful Performance to Northeastern University
    • “Glass Onion” Takes Shots at Easy Targets
      “Glass Onion” Takes Shots at Easy Targets
    • Arts In The News
    • Reviews
    • Music Peek
    • Books Before Boys
  • Sports and Wellness
    • Student-Athlete of October
      Student-Athlete of October
    • Athletics Update Oct. 19, 2022
      Athletics Update Oct. 19, 2022
    • The Case for Body Neutrality
      The Case for Body Neutrality
    • Athlete of the Week
    • Boston Sports Update
    • The Vegan Digest
    • The SHE Corner
  • The Wellesley Snooze
    • Rejected Snooze Articles for the Week
      Rejected Snooze Articles for the Week
    • Happy Valentine’s Day from Spog
      Happy Valentine’s Day from Spog
    • The Four Best Places to Loudly FaceTime Someone on Campus
      The Four Best Places to Loudly FaceTime Someone on Campus
  • Miscellanea
    • President’s Column: The Butterfly Effect
      President’s Column: The Butterfly Effect
    • Administrators shocked to learn that students dislike being left in dark
      Administrators shocked to learn that students dislike being left in dark
    • 50 Lies You Tell Yourself in Order to Survive Until Graduation
      50 Lies You Tell Yourself in Order to Survive Until Graduation
    • The Dose
    • The Olive Branch
    • Multimedia
      • Galleries
      • Infographics
      • Videos
By Claire Verbeck News, News and FeaturesApril 28, 2016

Traces of E. coli found in water sources raise concerns over the safety of campus buildings

Photo by Khalida Chin'16, Contributing Photographer

As Wellesley College continues with plans for renovation across campus, the safety of various buildings has been a growing point of discussion among students. The issues of crumbling ceilings and unreliable elevators in residential halls are particularly troubling, and many students worry that these issues won’t be fixed any time soon. This concern was raised once again, when earlier in April, the College issued a warning about E. coli found in four campus buildings. Facilities Management, the department responsible for addressing these issues, is taking active steps toward fixing these problems and improving safety levels throughout Wellesley College. “The College is aware that updates need to happen. It’s just making a plan to do that in the best way,” said a college employee. Though the College no longer refers to its campus renewal initiative as “Wellesley 2025,” efforts are still in place to renovate numerous campus buildings. The Wellesley 2025 final report, which was created by architecture firm VSBA in 2013, aims to correct structural concerns in several campus buildings.

Pendleton West, which was specifically mentioned in the report as a building with “some very basic safety issues,” is currently under construction. The entire 64-page report is still available on the Wellesley College website. These safety issues, such as the need for good ventilation, are particularly important in studio spaces. “My main qualm with the old studios was the lack of ventilation. Especially in the sculpture rooms, I remember breathing in a lot of plaster, which was an issue because I’d be working in there for very extended periods… otherwise the rooms were great for working in,” said Diksha Gupta ’16. “I’m happy for the future students but sad I got very limited resources for my studio work at Jewett and old Pendleton.”

Campus elevators are another point of concern. An anonymous student said that “I have felt at times uncomfortable in elevators on the Wellesley College campus, including the Science Center elevator, the Beebe elevator and McAfee elevator. I have checked the inspection papers at times in those elevators and have seen their last date of inspection was two years ago… I…noticed that over winter break these elevators were inspected and have been brought up to code, which makes me feel a lot safer on campus.”

Despite these complaints, College employees are confident that the elevators meet code. An anonymous employee said that “the elevators are all maintenance serviced and up-to-date. A lot of the time people will see a certificate in the elevator and think, ‘that’s out of date.’

That’s because the real certificate is on file in an office.” According to Wellesley College’s website, Facilities Management is responsible for “providing a safe and comfortable environment through the maintenance of buildings, landscape and infrastructure.” It oversees crucial services such as custodial duties, sustainability and motor pool, which manages the College’s fleet of motor vehicles.

Trina Learned, Director of Operations for Facilities Management, spoke briefly of its multi-faceted role on campus. “[Our] stewardship of buildings includes the everyday work of running the campus—cleaning, mowing, heating—as well as the longer perspective of maintaining buildings and systems and improving them through projects and campus renewal,” she said.

“The Operations group within Facilities is responsible for maintaining each of the buildings on campus, locks, access and egress doors, et cetera,” said Learned. “In regards to the safety of building structures, this would be a building code issue.” Building codes are dictated by federal, state and municipal governments. They are enforced by municipal inspectors from outside the College, which means Facilities is responsible for ensuring campus buildings pass these external inspections.

While many students are still concerned with the safety of their living spaces, they appreciate the hard work performed by Facilities. “My neighbor’s ceiling was falling down in pieces,” said one Tower resident. “She filed a maintenance request and they fixed it that day, so it was… more annoying than anything.”

Though these issues are still prevalent, the College is slowly building its way towards a safer campus in the coming years.

Photo by Khalida Chin’16, Contributing Photographer

Share on

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Google +
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
Previous articlePresident H. Kim Bottomly’s tenure celebrated during 2016 SpringFest
Next articleCollege Government elections reveal socioeconomic barriers of leadership positions

You may also like

Historic extreme cold blasts Wellesley

Pendleton East closure displaces social science departments

Stone-Davis dining staff report mistreatment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Email Newsletter

Sign up to receive our weekly digest in your inbox

* indicates required

Top Articles

  • Stone-Davis dining staff report mistreatment
  • Logos of social media apps such as Twitter, Tiktok, Netflix, Spotify, and Discord. Andrew tate: ending the cycle of toxic masculinity
  • The 95th Academy Awards Nominations: The Cool and The Contro...
  • A collection of a wide variety of foods in the colors of the rainbow Let them eat bread: the unequal effects of food price inflat...
  • Red envelope that contains money to celebrate the Lunar New Year. America’s cultural appropriation is a modern form of i...

Recent Tweets

Tweets by @Wellesley_News

The independent student newspaper of Wellesley College since 1901.

Sign up to receive our weekly digest in your inbox

* indicates required

  • About
  • Editorial Board
    • Staff Writers
  • Advertise
  • Join Us
  • Archives
COPYRIGHT © 2023 THE WELLESLEY NEWS
Back to top