Students Betray Community and UMW Custodial Staff

With the recent disgusting antics occurring in Virginia Hall, the Bullet wanted to take a moment to reflect upon how impertinent these actions are to the University of Mary Washington’s hard-working custodial staff.

Three times now, Virginia Hall residents have awoken to a hallway and bathroom filled with fecal excrement. This behavior is not only unsanitary, but also shameful and disrespectful to the residents of Virginia Hall and the maintenance staff. The UMW custodial staff works night and day to keep this campus pristine and they deserve our gratitude. Real people are forced to clean up this mess, and no person should be made to clean up human excrement.

The irresponsible behavior of one or two persons forces all of the residents in Virginia Hall to pay for the cleanup. This is unfair to the residents and anyone with information on the culprit should come forward.

This is not the only time the UMW custodial staff has been forced to deal with messes made by inconsiderate students. Last semester, in Jefferson Hall, a student vomited in the elevator, leaving a few residents and a resident assistant to clean up the mess and cordon off the elevator until a custodian could clean up the mess.

Additionally, a student also vomited in a shower in Russell Hall, leaving the custodial staff to clean up the mess and the residents to foot the bill.

Even if these incidents occurred when students were legitimately ill, we should be taking responsibility for our messes and remaining on the scene to clean up as much as possible.

The Bullet wishes to convey its regret to the custodial staff that it must deal with these unfortunate instances, because they are an integral part of the UMW family.