Two weeks ago, feces was found in multiple bathroom trash cans along the second floor of Elizabethtown College’s Myer dorm building, MK White, area coordinator for Myer, Ober and Schlosser Halls, said at a Zoom meeting. The perpetrator(s), as well as their intent, are still unknown, White said on the call. The Zoom meeting was held for the entire second floor of Myer on Sunday, Feb. 16, and although bathroom trash cans were removed, exact details of the incidents have not been released.
Residence Life did not grant an Etownian request for an interview because the incident is still “under investigation,” Director of Residence Life Tara Hoover said.
“I knew we were having a floor meeting about hygiene, but when I heard about what went down I was actually in shock,” Percy Lachman, a third-year student who lives in the affected hall, said. “Was it a dare, were they drunk, was it a serious condition? I want to know. I’ve noticed disrespect to shared spaces, but this is a whole new level.”
To make up for the lack of disposal services in the bathrooms, an extra trash can was added to the hall. According to several residents, though, as soon as this backup plan was enacted, the can and its contents were spilled all over the hallway.
Though most residents were not affected first-hand, situations like these can add strain and frustration to any students’ schedule.
“It’s very inconvenient to not have trash cans in the bathrooms any more, the entire situation is dumb,” one student said.
Alongside these obvious sanitation and behavioral concerns, residents have expressed feelings of concern for the Environmental Services (ES) workers and facilities staff. According to several students, it was mentioned in the Zoom meeting that some members of the staff became ill upon handling the incident and expressed wanting to quit. Hall residents have called the actions “degrading” to staff, and said staff “deserve better treatment for having to clean up after a bunch of stupid adults every week.”
“I didn’t know about it until after it had happened, but I’m mostly mad on behalf of the ES staff. I’ve talked to some of them before and they’re generally some of the sweetest people I’ve met, and this is so beyond disrespectful,” Lachman said.
Concerns like these hold more weight given that these incidents are not the first time this academic year that the College has had to take serious action based on student offenses.In September 2024, student ID access to dorm buildings besides their own was revoked after a common area whiteboard was used to display hate speech. In December 2024, Ober and Founders residence building removed paper towels from their bathrooms due to students disposing of them in the toilet when advised not to. These changes, while necessary, can result in uncomfortable student changes.
“I understand why these changes were put in place, but I think it’s really inconvenient. Lobbies of residence halls are supposed to be public areas. If you can’t access them freely, it takes community spaces away from students,” Ober resident Claire Grau said.
She expressed concerns over these recent facilities issues in light of previous ones, admitting that she “doesn’t think many people have the respect they should for the facilities as a whole.”The Myer hall Zoom meeting also provided resources to counseling services and referred students to the Penn Health Center on campus in the chance that these incidents were the result of a physical or mental health issue. Any student with information on the incident is asked to contact Hoover at hoovert@etown.edu.
