From the beautiful buildings to amazing art and fountains, Chapman sophomore Mateo Guerrero calls Chapman’s campus “beautiful.”
Not so beautiful to Guerrero, however, is the housing. Specifically, some of the amenities. He had one word for that:
“Yuck.”
From plumbing problems, to dinky washing machines, to a whole dorm building flooding multiple times, Guerrero says it seems like nothing can go right in Chapman’s dorms and apartments.
In his second year at Chapman, Guerrero and his friend moved into the Davis Apartments, excited to be so close to campus. But, upon moving in, his luck with the apartment has run dry – unlike his sink.
“Our couch is broken, our shower has flooded around three times, our toilet is leaking, our sink has mold; we have had like five work requests for it and every time it still leaks,” Guerrero said.
The list only keeps growing. Guerrero says he has to constantly fill out work requests, but he’s given up on having some things be repaired.
“Usually they’ll come pretty timely, but most of the time they’re looking for quick fixes,” Guerrero said of the facilities management team. “But I do appreciate them showing up.”
Dave Sundby, assistant dean of Residence Life, said some of the housing facilities – like dorm Pralle-Sodaro – were “aging” and “could use a refresh.”
However, he also asserted that most problems that involve work requests are student-caused.
“Students flush things down the toilets that shouldn’t be flushed down toilets,” Sundby said.
Yet Sydney Scott, a sophomore, pointed out the equipment issues aren’t relegated solely to dorms.
When she tossed her blanket into a dryer at her on-campus apartment complex The K, setting it to low heat, she returned to find black scorch marks on the fabric.
“It ruined my blanket,” Scott said.
Other students like Richard Rodriguez, a current sophomore K resident, have also noticed mold and dirt piled in the laundry machines.
“It was super gross,” Rodriguez said.
Scott also witnessed the laundry room flooding just a few weeks ago when going in to do her laundry. That’s a constant issue facing on-campus residences such as Morlan Hall, particularly in the experience of Mia Coots, a freshman at Chapman.
Before coming to Chapman, Coots had spent time getting to know her assigned roommate virtually. In the airport on her way to California to move in, she got a notification that North Morlan had flooded. Coots was distraught – she and her planned roommate, at the flip of a switch, were split up and assigned to different buildings.
“It felt like I spent all this time becoming friends with this girl for nothing,” Coots said.
Morlan Hall is one of the oldest housing facilities on campus, with a North building built in 1963 and a South in 1969.
“The North Morlan issue was a systems issue,” Sundby said. “We realized there was a pretty catastrophic failure in the plumbing main lines.”
Morlan wasn’t used during the 2020-21 year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now that it’s occupied, he and the staff hope the problem won’t arise again.
What’s more, beginning May 25, Morlan will be getting a full floor-to-ceiling renovation.
“The university is spending more than a million dollars this summer to do some serious upgrades in Morlan,” Sundby said.
Guerrero has had plenty of problems with the housing facilities. But through it all, he’s just thankful to have had the chance to live on-campus.
“I don’t really have room to complain,” Guerrero said. “I feel like I got what I paid for.”
Marjorie Stemmler is a sophomore English major with an emphasis in journalism. Aside from school, Marjorie spends most of her time working at Disney, hanging with friends, and going to archery. In the future, Marjorie would like to compete at the 2028 Olympic Games.
Marjorie Stemmler is a sophomore English major with an emphasis in journalism. Aside from school, Marjorie spends most of her time working at Disney, hanging with friends, and going to archery. In the future, Marjorie would like to compete at the 2028 Olympic Games.