When the more than 200 students in an afternoon Anthropology 165 course walked into Lillis Business Complex 282 on Tuesday to take their first in-class exam, they were met with more than multiple choice bubbles, essay questions and an insidious clock.
The studious test takers pondered course topics such as stereotypical gender roles and sexual identities as hundreds of ants traversed walls, scurried up railings and dodged shuffling feet.
“Thirty students had to be moved to another classroom,” said Lamia Karim, professor of the sexuality and culture course.
Three rows of seats toward the right side of the room are uninhabitable due to the infestation and Karim said they have been in such a state for weeks.
“This has been going on since the beginning of the term,” Karim said. “Students cannot sit in these rows. They can’t sit on the floor and block the exits, either.”
The associate professor of anthropology alerted building and grounds keepers three weeks ago but so far has seen no effort to combat the amassing pests.
“We have called campus operations,” Karim said. “They said they could fix it. This is the beginning of the fourth week and nothing has been done. It’s been a whole month of knowing about it.”
The out-of-commission seating has also forced students in the anthropology class and other courses using the room to learn in more cramped quarters.
Karim was told the source of the infestation was an ant-ridden branch hanging over the building, which, she said, suggests the lecture hall has structural impairments exposing it to outdoor conditions.
After her class yesterday, Karim wrote an email to University Associate Vice President for Campus Operations George Hecht spelling out the situation and asking for his help in rectifying the problem.
“Despite repeated calls to Building Operations, the problem of ant infestation continues,” Karim told Hecht. “Students pay to go to school here. They deserve a clean environment for their classes.”
The operations manager responded and said he would look into the problem.
“I will work on this a bit and get back to you with some answers,” Hecht said.
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