Some students residing in the Living Learning Community (LLC) have found mold growing in their dorms and are taking action with Arkansas State University housing to get it removed.   

Zoe Mathes, a junior strategic communications major from Forrest City, Arkansas, said she discovered the issue of mold growing in her dorm room, as well as noticing spots throughout LLC. 

Mathes said in the second week of living in her dorm she noticed mold growing through a leak in the ceiling tile that existed previous to her moving in. She said there was also mildew growing on hair that had been thrown in the trash can.

She said the day after she reported the mold, multiple people came by her dorm to take pictures before leaving and nothing was done to remove the mold until the next day. 

“It was just really frustrating and I didn’t feel like my concerns were taken very seriously because it was affecting my health and I didn’t want it to get worse,” Mathes said. “I just wish people would have properly taken care of the dorms and checked them before allowing students to move in. I wasn’t really offered any compensation for that, they said something about moving us and then they never did.” 

Nayumi Rodriguez and Nahomi Rodriguez are sisters from Paragould, Arkansas, living in the LLC 3 and experiencing issues with mold growing in their dorm room. 

Nahomi Rodriguez, sophomore pre professional studies major, said they felt moisture in the room when moving in, but did not think much of it as it was cold. She said they would open their windows to try and help with the moisture and eventually started noticing that their bedding felt damp, which furthered their suspicion of something being wrong. 

She said the mold started as a few spots on a ceiling tile in the corner above their sink, which motivated them to file a maintenance order.

“We filed a maintenance order to see if they would do something about it and all they did was change the tiles,” Nahomi Rodriguez said. 

She said after a week or two an orange wet stain formed on the ceiling tile they replaced but in a different spot and it soon began to grow mold. 

“That’s when we started looking around our room with stuff we just have laying out and on top of our fridge. We had a picture frame thing and when we turned it around that’s when we found all that green mold on it,” Nahomi Rodriguez said. 

They then contacted housing and on Oct. 8 there was still mold growing in their dorm. 

Nayumi Rodriguez, sophomore biology major, said they are discussing a room change with housing. 

Trevor Bateman, resident education coordinator, said he knows mold is growing in some of the dorms and when it is reported by a resident he goes to check it out, takes pictures to document and sends information to facilities maintenance. 

He said maintenance then comes by and removes the mold, fixing maintenance related issues if they are causing mold growth.  

“If it’s a lot or the resident is worried about their health, we also have emergency rooms on standby to relocate them, because their health is very important,” Bateman said. “If we can find out about it early enough, we can shut it down and there’s never a severe health risk.”

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the effects of living in an environment with mold or mold spores may cause allergic reactions with individuals that are sensitive to it. Mold exposure can cause symptoms such as eye irritation, sneezing, runny nose and dermatitis in both allergic and non-allergic people.  

Mathes said she has asthma and both of her parents have mold allergies so she assumes she also does. 

She said before the mold was removed from her dorm she would cough uncontrollably all night and not get much sleep. 

“I tested negative for covid. I tested negative for everything. They couldn’t figure out what it was,” Mathes said. “I visited the on campus thing (clinic) and I explained what was going on at this time. I didn’t know it was mold in the dorm, but I said that I felt like I was having an allergic reaction to something and they gave me acid reflux pills so I wasn’t taken very seriously.”

Nahomi Rodriguez and Nayumi Rodriguez said they did not experience any adverse health effects.

Bateman said the mold growth is due to a combination of the building’s aging, cold water pipes producing air conditioning water to cool the building down and humid Arkansas weather. He said many of the cases of mold growth in the LLCs are secluded to a ceiling tile from a water drip and are not an airborne risk. 

The resident education coordinator said a good way to prevent mold growth in your dorm or living space is to keep your  windows sealed on humid days. 

“Letting that humidity into your room can be a trigger or spawning ground form mold in various forms. I know the most common one that people see will be the spot on the ceiling from previous water damage, but there are some instances where it just gets in the room,” Bateman said. 

He said to also make sure to take out food out from open containers as well as expired food in refrigerators or cabinets. 

For the fastest response, students who find mold in their dorm can either call the resident advisor on duty or email their resident education coordinator who will then put in a work order with maintenance.

Students experiencing mold issues living in the Living Learning Community can contact Bateman at 870-972-3521. Students can also request a maintenance work order on the A-State website or by calling the facilities management maintenance work order center at 870-972-2067.

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