On Monday, Feb. 2 at approximately 2pm, Howard University students in the Bethune Annex cafeteria heard a loud creak coming from an area of the cafeteria that was blocked off by yellow “floor wet” hazard signs with a small black puddle under the seats.
According to Jordan Hawkins-Collins, a sophomore criminology major and history minor from San Francisco, the cafeteria already had an odd odor, but she and her friends ignored the smell.
“But you know what, it’s Howard, so we didn’t think too much of it,” Hawkins-Collins said.
People started to comment as the creak continued. What started as dripping became a sudden burst of water – breaking the tiles from the ceiling, with the flow only getting stronger as students evacuated the building. Hawkins-Collins, like many, took videos of the bursted pipe, which have circulated across social media platforms and gone viral on applications like Instagram, TikTok and Fizz.
Within the same day, at least three other buildings experienced flooding, including the Chemistry building, though no one was inside at the time of the burst; and the former iLab building and the College of Dentistry building, which, according to an email announcement sent by the office of university communications, were both affected by the same ruptured pipe. Leaks were also reported in other university properties, including Academic Support Building A, which currently houses the Cathy Hughes School of Communications.
According to eyewitnesses and the Office of University Communications (OUC) nobody was hurt during the flooding. Hawkins-Collins and many other students feel that the University did not take proper precautions to prevent such an event from occurring.
LaNeice Tyree, Assistant Vice President of Enterprise Services & Operations, denies that there was any way to predict the Annex rupture.
“It’s due to the frigid temperatures. This is not normally the case during this time. It is usually within the 40s during this time,” said Tyree.
When a location remains low or freezing for long periods of time, the water within pipes can freeze and expand, causing them to burst. AVP Tyree said the enterprise services and operations teams were already in action prior to the start of the winter storm.
“We ensure that the piping systems and infrastructure have been winterized to make sure that the impact is slight,” said Tyree, noting that three shifts of staff throughout the day work to ensure hazards are caught quickly.
Tyree also detailed how the university plans to decrease the chance of future hazards through various capital infrastructure projects, which aim to strengthen and modernize infrastructure in old buildings like the WHUT building, the Myrtilla Miner Building and north trailers in the next three to four years.
“We want to make sure we are bringing the newest technology that is available for them so that they are not only standard, but energy efficient,” said AVP Tyree.
While AVP Tyree contends that the University is now fully operational, repairs will remain ongoing.
“There are things we are consistently working on to better this institution for our students, our faculty and our staff,” said AVP Tyree.
Bethune Annex cafeteria reopened on Thursday, Feb. 5, but many students remain frustrated by the dining amenities on campus.
Kaia Chebiniak, a sophomore political science major and communications minor from Boston, is one of many students who commented under a now-deleted post on the University’s Instagram page detailing the incident. Chebiniak felt that the university could have done more to open resources sooner after the snowstorm.
“Not being able to take full advantage of my meal plan, which also costs thousands of dollars, makes me mad,” expressed Chebiniak. “If Blackburn was open last week, they [University management] could have put someone up in the library.”
Chebiniak expressed that the disappointment of the closure is compounded by the loss of many restaurants on Georgia Avenue at the start of the year.
”For a lot of students, that was a big way that they could get food for themselves,” said Chebiniak.
Chebiniak feels that some sort of refund is due to the student because of the closures.
AVP Tyree emphasized that despite Annex’s closure, eight other dining options were open, and as such, no conversations involving refunds have occurred.
Copy edited by D’Nyah Jefferson – Philmore
