A petition launched online by a SUNY Oswego student calling for the school to install air conditioning units in most of its residence halls could soon see its verdict.
“For a while now since I moved in as a freshman, I’ve heard lots of complaints about heat in all the buildings and specific dorm halls as well,” Melanie Mendez said, the SUNY Oswego student who is spearheading an online petition calling for the school to renovate its air conditioning units in most residence halls.
When she started at SUNY Oswego, Mendez lived in Johnson Hall, which did have air conditioning systems put in place. She currently lives in Hart Hall.
Mendez first reached out to Hart Hall Residence Hall Director Lexi Booth for guidance as well as asking other students across campus about their experiences.
Residence Life and Housing’s responses to students’ petitions were “the buildings are too old” or “there’s nothing that can be done,” according to Mendez.
“There wasn’t really much effort put into place into giving the students a better living condition,” Mendez said. “It was kind of concerning.”
The petition has earned just over 1,000 signatures online and got the attention from the vice president of Residence Life and Housing.
“My goal originally was to get at least 100 signatures from just the students alone,” Mendez said. “It actually went out of my own hands and I got way more [signatures] than I expected.”
Mendez said when she spoke to the vice president of Residence Life and Housing he was “very understanding and concerned about what we students were going through.”
Mendez said Residence Life and Housing has launched a survey to hear students’ comments and concerns regarding the possibility of adding air conditioning units across its residence halls.
“From the petition, students did vocalize their issues with housing, and they said that it’s crazy that you can have at least five fans in the room and it would just circulate hot air,” Mendez said. “The windows don’t open up very much, kids are waking up sweating, some kids with medical conditions have to go out and sit in their cars to get some type of air.”
Mendez said it was a safety hazard due to it affecting students’ health as well as the way they were able to study and their ability to focus.
“It was just interfering with a lot of physical activities and also mental because it affected sleep and we need to sleep in order to focus in class,” Mendez said. “The concerns were vocalized on the petition.”
In some cases, the heat caused nose bleeds for students, Mendez said.
“After I went through the experience myself, I just woke up one morning and I was like ‘this is enough,’” she said.
Mendez is currently meeting with school officials to discuss ways to install new air conditioning units in residence halls as well as other potential alternatives.
The Oswegonian has reached out to Residence Life and Housing for comment but has not yet received a response.
