Two years ago a student fell out of one of the bullseye windows in Old Kenyon Residence Hall. Over winter break, maintenance installed bars on both bullseye windows to prevent similar incidents. Lisa Train, associate director of housing and operations, said maintenance had been working to secure the fourth-floor windows since the accident in April of 2016. The student, Alexander Beatty ’19 survived the fall.
“Those old windows are huge and someone standing there could easily fall out,” Train said. “We wanted a safety measure that could secure them better.”
Train said it was difficult to secure the windows because of their size and shape. The windows are almost four feet tall, according to Cindy Burgett, office manager of the maintenance department. Train asked maintenance to make sure the windows could open a little for air flow because there is no air conditioning in Old Kenyon. Maintenance had trouble finding a solution that met this request, according to Train.
“They are tough windows to secure and to allow for some air flow,” Train said. “You could just seal them up and call it a day. I think that’s why it may have taken a little bit to find the right mechanism.”
Maintenance explored other options, including safety screens and grab bars, which prevent the window from opening too wide, according to Burgett.
“The safety bars used apparently were the best option to ensure the safety of the students,” Burgett wrote in an email to the Collegian.
Train also asked maintenance to look into windows on the fourth floor of Leonard Residence Hall that might open up onto a ledge of the building. She said those windows should be easier to secure.
Train said they also considered the aesthetics and architectural history of the building when securing the windows on Old Kenyon.
“It’s in the front and for pictures and things like that, we didn’t want to put big steel bars and make it look like a prison,” Train said. “Those bullseyes are old and we don’t want to damage the historic nature of them,” she added.
The bullseye windows are in the housing divisions of Delta Kappa Epsilon (DKE) and Alpha Delta Phi (AD). Students living in the rooms with the bullseye windows did not respond to requests for comment.