Several students returned from winter break last weekend to find fallen ceilings and flooded floors in their Schenley rooms. GW has placed at least two in temporary housing.

“It’s quite a present to come back to,” said sophomore Stevie Rousey, who lives on the sixth floor of the Schenley.

Rousey, who returned to GW Saturday, found a patch of ceiling about two feet in diameter that fell onto his roommate’s bed
in the Schenley triple bedroom. Rousey said GW officials told him they would repair the ceiling Monday.

Sophomores Vanessa Couzzo and Dana Monchick also arrived Saturday to find water damage in their sixth floor Schenley room.

Couzzo said she found about a half inch of water on the floor that had leaked from their radiator across the room. Monchick and Courzzo are staying in the JBKO guest room.

“It was like a pool in the middle of the room,” Couzzo said, adding they soaked up the water with towels.

As the floorboards dried, the wood warped and created lumps and splinters in the floor.

“They’re going to have to rip it up and replace the whole floor,” Monchick said.

Couzzo said GW left a checklist for students to complete before leaving the residence hall for winter break that included turning off their radiators. She said when they returned, Couzzo and Monchick found a notice from Trammell Crow, the Schenley’s property management company.

The notice, dated Dec. 21, said they should leave the heat on or the radiator would leak. Couzzo said the roommates left the heat off when they left Dec. 18 – following GW’s instruction – because they did not get the property manager’s note.

When the women returned to their room, Couzzo said they called University Police, which arrived first and called their community facilitator and maintenance staff.

Couzzo and Monchick plan to stay in the guest room through Monday, the first day of spring classes.

Other students reported small radiator and sink leaks.

The community facilitator on duty Sunday afternoon declined to comment on what residents should do if they return to find water damage.

According to the GWired Web site, if a repair request jeopardizes a resident’s safety, will cause further damage or loss to University property or will significantly disrupt University activity and needs to be attended to immediately, it is considered an emergency request. Students with emergency requests should call the residence hall office, community facilitator on duty or the administrative coordinator on call if the hall office is closed.

Couzzo and Monchick said they are still not sure how GW plans to repair the floor.

“So far everyone’s been pointing fingers,” Couzzo said.