On the night of Wednesday, Aug. 31, a sprinkler in one room of Bundy East Residence Hall was activated, although not by fire.

As a result, water gradually began to pool into each of the surrounding rooms, forcing the hallway residents to evacuate.

The sprinkler activation affected eight rooms. Impacted residents were told in an email on Thursday, Sept. 1 at 12:17 a.m. by Residence Life Director Ashley Place that they should stay with a friend for the night or call Campus Safety for assistance.

The next morning, at 10:39 a.m., students were notified by Place that the water damage was more extensive than initially thought and that they would need to “move completely out of [their] rooms and into another room that is being prepared for [them] right now.” Students were then moved into empty rooms in other residence halls.

Facilities Management provided boxes and tape while Campus Safety helped move students to their new rooms. Students were told to start packing “ASAP,” and in many cases were forced to miss class.

Anoushka Aswin ’25, who is currently being housed in Bundy West, was told on the phone by Assistant Director Tanith Sherman that she and her roommate would not be able to move back into their room until sometime after Monday, Sept. 12. Multiple other rooms have been left permanently water-damaged and unlivable.

Frank Coots, Director of Campus Safety, explained in an interview that Campus Safety handles any sprinkler activation like a fire alarm: evacuating the entire building and calling the local fire department via 911. They quickly determined that no fire or other emergency was happening, so Facilities Management entered Bundy East.

Coots remarked that “this is why we stress the importance of not placing anything on our fire protection equipment. I do not believe the student had any intention of activating the sprinkler system. However, they made a poor decision on placing something on it and it caused a great deal of inconvenience for a large number of people. The student will be held accountable for their actions.”

Coots highlighted that “this type of event illustrates the responsibility of every community member to respect our neighbors, ensure our campus remains safe and to encourage the proper use of safety equipment.”

Facilities Management has attempted to clean up the water and dehumidify the rooms. Students’ powerstrips that were damaged by the water have been removed but will be replaced by the College.

More information on replacing damaged belongings has not yet been provided. Residence Life was unavailable for comment.