by Emily Sakamoto

Several students who were on campus early for Orientation or sports preseason during the week of Aug. 17 suffered a rude awakening when the south end of Leonard Residence Hall’s basement was flooded with up to four inches of water. Due to Middle Path’s high elevation relative to Leonard’s, the dorm’s basement is prone to flooding from run-off during rainy seasons. 

Of the four double rooms and three single rooms affected, only nine of the 11 spaces in the hall were occupied by students by the 17th. Four students were on campus during the initial flooding period, and the other five were notified via email the Saturday before move-in of their housing predicament. 

Students affected were offered two options: move to a Mather Residence Hall double with their roommate for the price of a triple, or move to a Mather double alone and pay the price of a double room. 

“It is unfortunate and I did complain a lot because it sucks to live in Mather and I am 21,” Asha McAllister ’15, one of the students affected by the Leonard flooding, said.

There is no exact time frame for the construction response to the flooding that is hindering students from moving back into their original room assignments, according to Associate Director of Housing and Residential Life Lisa Train. Maintenance is choosing to fix the outdoor construction to block all possible future floods and to concentrate on room renovations as a secondary precaution against future flooding. 

Train wrote in an email to the Collegian that, “[We] are hopeful that it will be done by the end of the semester, possibly earlier.”

Meanwhile, McAllister is attempting to make the best of the situation. “Overall, I’m just happy that I do have a place to live,” McAllister said.