I write in response to Silvana Del Carpio’s letter titled Residents neglected (Oct. 2), which concerned her Munson Hall room’s water pipe break. Without a doubt, this is an unfortunate situation and I in no way want to diminish what happened. However, I think we would all agree that what she endured is an unforeseen incident. I do not work for Housing Services and am in no way affiliated with other University services, but I felt a student needed to provide an objective response to Del Carpio’s frustration.

Even from her own letter, it appears as if the University was quite responsive. Within a half-hour after the 1:45 a.m. incident, she had community facilitators, campus police, a housekeeper and a plumber in her room attempting to remedy the problem. Del Carpio is right, though, in that the University should reimburse students fully for their damaged property and personal belongings. I would hope and expect so.

She is also right in that students do indeed pay a lot of money to attend school here. That’s because GW is a great school and has great students. And it’s those students who can differentiate between an unfortunate incident and negligence. I commend the community facilitators, hall managers and University staff for their hard work, and I wish the displaced students the best with this very unfortunate situation.

-Brad Hawkinsgraduate student