A mushroom growing out of a dorm room wall on the fourth floor of Lawrence Tower. Credit: Courtesy of Kyra Avarello

Students living in Lawrence Tower have been made aware of a mushroom and mold threat in the dorm, confirmed by the university to be caused by a water leak.

Dave Isaacs, university spokesperson, said in a Monday email that 40 students will be temporarily moved out of 19 rooms.

Kyra Avarello, a first-year in earth science, said she noticed bulbs emerging from the wallpaper in her Lawrence dorm room around two weeks ago. She said they grew to become full-sized mushrooms overnight, with yet another one sprouting from a crack in the wall the following day. Avarello said she and her roommate subsequently contacted the emergency housing line Oct. 27 to report the issue.

Initial discovery

According to Avarello's Nov. 3 Reddit post on r/OSU, employees from Ohio State's Environmental and Health Services department said there was no mold threat in Lawrence Tower after visiting the dorm, despite the wet drywall and visible "growth" behind the wallpaper.

Avarello said she and her roommate, as well as their dorm neighbors, were informed they would need to move to new dorms, as this issue would still need severe repairs, according to the post.

Avarello said her dorm neighbors were initially unaware of the mold and mushroom growth, as Ohio State's Environmental and Health Services department and Housing and Residence Education office did not inform the students about the issue.

"I don't remember what I said, but I'm like, 'Oh, a room without mushrooms,' and my neighbors were like, 'Y'all got mushrooms?'" Avarello said. "I was like, 'Yeah, they grew out of the wall.' He was uninformed, which was a bit crazy."

Student response

Though Avarello brought awareness to Lawrence Tower's mold issues via her post, she and her roommate are not the only students who have been affected.

Rebecca Stetter, a first-year in biology, said in an email she has also struggled with mold growth in her Lawrence dorm room.

"I have made multiple service requests to get the mold cleaned out of my room," Stetter said. "They cleaned some of it out. However, one person came in and just painted over the wall where some, if not most, of the mold was growing. This kind of felt like they just wanted to brush the issue under the carpet."

Stetter said she has endured several health complications since moving into Lawrence Tower -- including bronchitis, pneumonia and a sinus infection -- but she cannot fully prove mold has caused these ailments. Even so, she said she believes the living conditions in her dorm are one of the root causes of these illnesses.

"My biggest concern is that I will have long-term health issues, and I am concerned if the conditions that I am living in are safe for me," Stetter said. "I am also concerned about what other things could possibly be growing in the walls/ceilings, considering they are good enough conditions for mushrooms to be growing in the wall."

Jack Haley, a first-year in architecture and Lawrence Tower resident, said in an email he is concerned about how the mold will affect students' immune and respiratory systems, especially as the weather gets colder. He said considering housing costs, he feels it's unacceptable for issues like this to be present in a Rate 1 dorm.

"This is supposed to be a rate 1 dorm, and so we are paying extra compared to other places, and in return we are getting rooms where the bathroom and, in some cases, the main room itself are falling apart or are toxic and potentially dangerous or harmful to spend extended periods of time in," Haley said.

Rate 1 dorms cost approximately $5,045 per semester, according to the Office of Student Life's Housing and Residence Education website.

USG and university responses

Mykenna Roy -- an Undergraduate Student Government university senator -- brought a resolution to the USG floor with Francesco Antonio Migliore -- a third-year in natural resource management and USG senator under the College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences -- to criticize the use of Lawrence Tower as a student-housing facility because of the current health risks associated with living there, Roy said.

This resolution was passed through the committee with a unanimous vote, said Roy, also a third-year in biology and public management. The final resolution will go to the floor Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.

Isaacs said in an email a water leak occurred on the 11th floor of Lawrence Tower in a utility chase -- a space that runs pipes and wires from one floor to another -- and caused water damage to the drywall. He said this damage "is limited to the rooms adjacent to [the] utility chase."

"The leak was reported via Service2Facilities on October 28, and the same morning Facilities team members were on site assessing the damage," Isaacs said. "They moved quickly to repair the leak and work to identify the extent of the water damage and begin making repairs to those spaces."

Avarello said she feels students in Lawrence Tower should have been notified of the ongoing leak earlier, as it created concerns regarding dorm conditions that could have been reported to maintenance.

"I feel like everyone in that building should have been informed about what happened to me," Avarello said. "They should have said something, to watch out. Like, 'If there's any water damage in your room, you need to report it immediately because of these leaks and what's happened.'"

Issacs said the university is developing a plan to fix the damage caused to the dorm's drywall. He also said "no immediate health or safety concerns of residents" in Lawrence Tower have been identified as a result of this water damage, but students adjacent to the utility chase will be temporarily moved to different university locations.

"This will allow crews to do the work more quickly and efficiently and is the sole reason for the temporary relocation," Isaacs said. "Only students living in rooms impacted by the leak will be moved. Approximately 40 students will be temporarily moved from 19 impacted rooms. We are working with those students to facilitate and assist them with the relocation."

Isaacs said though it is "too early to have a timetable for repairs," he anticipates the relocation will be temporary and students will eventually return to their rooms after the work in Lawrence Tower is completed.