Throughout the fall semester and increasingly after break, flurries of discussion about mold and asbestos among Loomis residents have filled the 75-year-old hallways of their home.
One resident, Sophie Middleton ‘29, said she had a strong immune system before moving into Loomis, but reported experiencing “nine separate illnesses between August and late December.” She thinks it “definitely has a correlation” to her environment.
Loomis Residential Life Coordinator (RLC) Gil Vaught said there has never been a case of mold in Loomis in his five years.
If a resident reports suspected mold, Vaught says he would call Luke Scott, an environmental safety manager at the college, to evaluate it.
Scott says Colorado College’s Environmental Health and Safety Department annually inspects Loomis and has found no mold in any part of the building. He says Housing cleans the vents in bathrooms regularly.
According to Scott, the environment in Colorado is dry, so the likelihood of mold growing in a dorm room is low. The only caveat is student-caused moisture creating mold.
In addition to mold speculation, over half-block, some residents said they observed tent-like vestibules and tubes in Loomis hallways, contractors in hazmat-looking suits and a sign that read something about asbestos.
Vaught says contractors were working in the walls and Loomis was built back when asbestos was used for wall-lining. As for the vestibules, he says, “as long as you didn’t enter into that space you weren’t going to get exposed to it.”
Vaught urges students to address him with any further concerns about environmental safety in Loomis.