NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y.- On Dec. 4, 2017 the Niagara Wire posted an op-ed article titled “Bathrooms gone haywire” regarding the campus bathrooms. Since the article came out, there has been word circling around campus involving updated changes to the residence hall bathrooms. More specifically, there will be updated changes to the shower facilities.
All of the bathrooms on Niagara’s campus have different shower styles whether it be stalls, double curtains, or a single curtain. Two residence halls that don’t have stalls are O’Shea and Clet hall. A lot of the shower curtains do not fit the width of the shower either which raises concerns of privacy and safety. “If students are saying that the shower curtain is not fully covering the shower stall, then that is an easy fix for us and we should correct that immediately,” said Jason Jakubowski, the Dean for Students. Over winter break, Jakubowski and Kim Fenton, the Director of Residence Life, went to O’Shea and Clet hall and pulled every shower curtain. A number of shower curtains were identified for replacement after seeing the condition that they were in regarding cleanliness. After the inspection, 25 work orders were submitted in order to have these curtains replaced. Following those orders, there are more work orders being submitted in regards to the width of the curtains. “As Dean of Students, you don’t really fully understand and appreciate the scope of the issue until you actually go to the space and evaluate,” says Jakubowski. As of Jan. 26, 2018 Jakubowski had followed back up with facilities and was notified that the curtains in O’Shea that had received work orders had been replaced.
There are also strategic procedures being executed in order to create a master plan for housing. The main piece for this housing isn’t just going to be revolved around the room design but moving forward it’s going to include bathrooms as well. There is going to be further discussion with facilities and planning to find a solution for privacy in the bathrooms. More specifically, the Clet hall bathrooms. Whether it’s a curtain to the shower area or something along those lines. “If that’s a persistent theme (the dysfunctionality of the bathrooms), we have to listen,” said Dr. Ireland, the provost of Niagara University.
“Under Reverend Joseph Levesque and Father James Maher, we spend a lot of time and effort into building the academic side. . . I think we have done a really good job there, and now we maybe have to shift focus a little bit,” said Ireland. “I know a group of interested and engaged students have put something on our radar screen that has not been on our radar screen. . .”
Niagara Wire 