Westside Hall on the university’s campus has a perfectly situated laundry room, a brightly-lit lounge and study areas with central air conditioning. Meanwhile, other dorms such as Bethel Hall lack elevators and other basic dorm amenities.

Welcome to the room lottery, where your dorm appointment could leave you in comfort or in the emergency room. With students’ findings of mold in air vents, there is major cause for concern.

This university prides itself on fostering academic excellence and student well-being. But students who live on campus sometimes have a different vision of the school.

The differences between dorms are stark. Some students live in semi-comfort, while others struggle to breathe quality air through vents covered with dust and dirt.

“It’s a bit puzzling to me why dorms vary in quality, with some having better amenities like air conditioning while others don’t in 2024,” said Amir Phelmetto, sophomore biomedical engineering major.

In 2022, students conducted an independent mold test in several dorms and those tests came back positive in Bergami and Dunham Hall. Students also took pictures of the vents, which were covered in soot and dust.

On the school’s Facebook page, parents created a discourse about their students’ experiences on campus. There have been numerous comments and complaints on the page about their students having a chronic cough and some students ending up in emergency rooms.

This semester, one student from Bergami Hall submitted pictures of their events to the university’s campus facilities department, prompting a visit from them.

Alanah Weaver, a freshman, said, “My roommate and I clean the front of the vent every week. We thought it was normal for college. I have had a lingering cough since October, I can’t believe this.”

Weaver and her roommate said they took their findings to the school, which hit social media.

Charlie the Charger, the school’s social media respondent responded, “The University has been made aware that an independent mold test was conducted in a residence hall room in University-sponsored housing. Since learning of this test, University staff have met with the students who conducted the test…out of abundance of caution, we will retest the room using our industrial hygienist to perform the test. If the test results warrant any remediation, this will be conducted immediately.”

Because interior living spaces can harbor moisture, it creates the perfect breeding ground for mold.
In addition to causing allergic reactions, research shows poor housing quality and instability has negative consequences on mental health and psychological well-being. Low-quality housing is associated with depression, anxiety and low levels of motivation, while housing instability is associated with anxiety and depression. Poor health conditions can hurt academic outcomes. According to the National League of Cities, “Poor quality housing is associated with stress, anxiety, depression; emotional and behavioral problems; and worse academic performance in children.”
Athletes say they find themselves affected by substandard dormitory conditions.

“Dormitory conditions play a pivotal role in fostering a conducive environment for sports achievement,” said Phelmetto, who is a track and field athlete. Phelmetto said adequate rest and privacy and a well-maintained dorm is important for peak athletic performance.

“When it comes to the conditions of dorms on campus,” he said, “I believe it plays a crucial role in our overall achievement, whether it’s in sports, academics, or social life. Having a comfortable and conducive living space can greatly impact our performance and well-being.

Academic achievement is also at stake because disparities in dorm conditions influence students’ ability to concentrate and excel. Mikaela Motz, a freshman communication student, said, “Since tuition and the cost of living on campus are increasing, I think that the other dorms should be focused on and improved for incoming students. When on a tour at UNH, I had only seen Westside Hall, one of the upgraded dorms, and had not seen any of the ‘older’ buildings.”

Motz said the tour guide mentioned it would be more expensive to live in this hall, yet her tour group wasn’t taken to the older dorms, which didn’t give incoming students the full picture.

“I think that a main focus of the university should be to focus on these older dorms, so all students have the same amenities and comfortable living space,” Motz said.

The university has made it clear they are improving certain aspects of the campus and overall college life, but the status of housing and the quality of certain buildings around campus seem to not have gotten enough attention.