Students displaced for more than a week by the Nov. 1 flooding of the Living Learning Center returned to their rooms this weekend, but the two residents blamed for starting the deluge won’t be rejoining them.
The men, who triggered the flood when they hit an overhead fire sprinkler in the third-floor north LLC hall with a football, moved out Sunday after circulating a petition asking University officials to let them return to visit friends.
Administrators have forbidden freshman David Rouse, who threw the ball, and freshman Dennis McCaffrey from entering the living portions of the LLC and have relocated them to another complex. The men violated their University Housing contracts by using sporting equipment in the hall, Rouse said.
“They said the amount of displacement and, I guess, mental and emotional stress caused to the people involved was also a key reason,” he said, “which I can completely understand.”
Rouse said Wednesday that he and McCaffrey are sorry, but added that they have been unfairly “exiled” from their friends.
“Dennis and I are certainly very humble and sorry for what we have done,” he said. “We understand the destruction that we caused people.”
Sandy Schoonover, Residence Life director, declined to comment on the men’s punishment.
Damages to the second and third floors caused by the potentially hundreds of gallons that poured from the sprinkler had not been calculated as of Tuesday, Schoonover said.
Rouse said he is worried by rumors that he will be held fiscally responsible for damages, saying a Housing official told his parents that students typically must pay for repairs in such situations.
Sixteen students relocated to other residence hall rooms during repairs. They were scattered among Bean, Hamilton and Walton complexes, Schoonover said.
“My sense is that it was a terrible inconvenience for the students and that they weren’t very happy about it,” she said.
The affected section of the third-floor hallway, which was covered in as much as 1 inch of water, was a flurry of activity following the flood. Workers tore out and replaced baseboards and sheetrock on both the second and third floors, Schoonover said.
The “vast majority” of construction was finished by Saturday, but some touchup painting remains and some molding won’t be installed in rooms until winter break or after the school year to avoid disturbing students.
Freshman Laura Welsh, whose door faces the sprinkler, and her roommate moved temporarily to a Barnhart room, she said.
“We had to walk to classes everyday, and it’s a long walk,” she said.
Water ruined her $105 psychology textbook, but she received a voucher to have it replaced at the University Bookstore.
“It started growing mold, so obviously I threw it out,” she said.
She also threw away a carpet and chair-like cushions from their room that smelled like mold, she said.
“People were very, very mad,” Welsh said. “I was really mad when I found out too, because I was at my boyfriend’s dorm and I got a call from my roommate saying, ‘Have you heard about our dorm?’”
Students formed three Facebook groups following the flood, including ” THE FLOOD… LLCN” and “Mom always said, Don’t play ball in the residence hall!” Freshman Leslie Logan, whose room sits about four doors away from the sprinkler, said she and her roommate returned Sunday after living in Bean Complex.
She had to wash about 90 percent of her laundry because it was soaked, and one of her books was damaged, she said. Her roommate’s printer was ruined.
“Initially, the shock was kind of taking over, like ‘oh my God,’” she said. “The only real inconvenience was we went from a nicely large room to a smaller room.”
Logan said many residents understand why Rouse and McCaffrey were moved out of the hall, but that preventing them from visiting friends there is drastic.
“Most people were pretty upset at the beginning, … but most people have relaxed about it and most people understand it was a complete accident,” she said. “It could have happened to anyone, really.”
After hitting the sprinkler with the football, Rouse said, he ran downstairs to look for someone to tell to turn the water off. Meanwhile, the fire alarm sounded and everyone evacuated. He went back upstairs, grabbed towels and started putting them beneath doors.
The LLC complex director and a Department of Public Safety officer later confronted him about the incident, he said.
Rouse said he has submitted an appeal to Schoonover but has not heard back from her.
“I feel like the community certainly supports us,” Rouse said. “And if that was their main argument for not letting us return, I hope that makes a difference.”
Rouse and McCaffrey must still meet with University officials for a Student Conduct Code meeting, Rouse said. But Rouse said he doesn’t think they could be punished more.
“It’s been a stressful couple weeks,” he said.
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LLC Flood damage
What: Portions of the second and third floors of the north Living Learning Center building suffered water damage Nov. 1 after a broken fire sprinkler flooded the hall
Amount: The cost of damages from the flood remains unknown
Punishment: Two freshmen who triggered the flood while playing football have been ejected from the LLC and are prohibited from entering living portions of the hall. They do not know if they will have to pay for the damages.