The Environmental Services staff at Elizabethtown College has reported multiple instances of human feces being found in the bathroom trashcans of Myer Residence Hall. The students living in the hall were notified at the end of January that if the problem continued, they would face a community charge.
Area Coordinator MK White sent an email to the Myer community on Jan. 22 addressing the issue. “Unfortunately, Residence Life has received reports of human feces being found in the trashcan of Myer second floor bathrooms on Wednesday and again today,” White wrote.“If this behavior continues and we cannot determine the individual responsible, then a communal charge will be distributed equally among residential community members to cover the biohazard cleaning fee.”
Annabelle Keefer, a sophomore student living on the second floor, shares how this event has affected her personally. “Every time I go to the bathroom now, I am hesitant, and I check the trash cans because I’m scared that there’s a load in there.”
She said that the threatened community charge makes her angry because she “knows how to use the restroom, like most people.” Keefer also argues that the charge would be unfair because students could be coming from a different floor or even being let into the building.
Keefer believes this behavior is disgusting, and she can’t think of a reason why anyone of college age would be doing this. Her parting message to the culprit was to know that this act is not funny, and it is strongly affecting the students living on the floor.
This action has not only affected the students living on the floor, but also the student leaders who oversee the floors. Ella Fulk, a sophomore resident assistant at Myer Residence Hall, shares how these behaviors have changed her duties.
“I’m having to play detective and listen for people in the hallway. I now have to check the bathrooms every once in a while to get a time frame of when the event has happened,” Fulk said. She also shares that having to remind her residents to respect the bathrooms in an upper classman dorm is frustrating, stating that no one wants to confess to the crimes, but if the fee were given, she is the first person to whom they will complain.
“This behavior is not only disrespectful to the community residing on the floor,” White wrote. “But also to the Environmental Services staff who work to keep your bathrooms and floors clean throughout the week.”
Since the Jan. 22 email, no further communication has been sent out. No culprit has been acknowledged, and community charges have been given. Keefer and Fulk agree that they are curious about who among them was guilty of contaminating the communal bathrooms with their feces.
