First-year student Madalyn Schmitz said she had cold symptoms and her roommate felt “really sleepy all the time” for a few days before they realized they might have been exposed to mold in their room in Ehringhaus Residence Hall.
Schmitz said her roommate contacted their resident adviser, who directed them to fill out a housing repair request on the UNC Facilities Services website.
About three hours later, a member of the maintenance staff replaced the filter of their AC unit, which Schmitz and her roommate think was the source of the mold, she said.
“The [AC unit] right above ours drips water onto our machine so it could have gotten sunk into our filter, and it could have grown mold there,” Schmitz said.
Discovering mold in their residence hall rooms has led some students to worry about the effects of the mold on their health. After more than 1,000 residents were evacuated out of Granville Towers during mold removal in 2019, this issue remains a concern for UNC students.
According to Carolina Housing, if students in on-campus residence halls discover mold growth, leaky water pipes or other water accumulation, they should immediately fill out a housing repair request because “microbial growth can occur in as early as 24-48 hours.”
After a report is filed, UNC Media Relations said in an email statement that the mold is inspected and cleaned by Carolina Housing, UNC Facilities Services and UNC Environment, Health and Safety. Maintenance staff work to address underlying issues and prevent a recurrence, Media Relations said.
First-year Maren Molinaro said she noticed a leak under her bathroom sink in Koury Residence Hall last Tuesday and submitted a housing repair request to fix it.
“I went to put my hand back there and I was like, ‘Look, this piece of wood is sopping wet.’ And my hand comes back, black with mold on it,” Molinaro said.