Multiple students reported smelling the aroma of marijuana on three different occasions on 3rd Memorial last week, according to resident director Jay Govoni.
An email sent to third-floor Memorial and Shields residents by Govoni on Jan. 15 revealed that “someone was smoking marijuana in the 3rd Memorial bathroom” on Tuesday, Jan. 14.
Govoni received text messages reporting the odor from residents that live on the third floor.
He received the first text message at 4:12 p.m. and went up to check the bathroom about five minutes later.
“I didn’t smell anything, but there was Febreze covering it,” Govoni said. “The toilet showed remnants that something had been flushed.”
Tim Sluss, a resident on 3rd Memorial, smelled the marijuana on Tuesday.
“I smelled it in the afternoon before dinner when walking into the floor bathroom,” Sluss said. “The smell was very strong and sickening, so it was very clear that someone had been smoking in there.”
Sluss said that it’s frustrating because this has happened more than once.
“The frustrating part is that this is not the first time this has happened on our floor,” he said. “It’s really unpleasant to walk out into the hallway and have to hold your breath from the strong smell, so we have to avoid one part of the hallway entirely or hang out in the floor lounge to avoid the smell.”
Cameron Smith, another resident on 3rd Memorial, also smelled the marijuana.
“It had to have been in the bathroom. It was way too strong for it to not have been in the bathroom,” Smith said. “There’s been times that we could smell it on the floor, but you couldn’t pinpoint the location, but when I walked into the bathroom yesterday, it hit me like a wall.”
“It’s not even a matter of them smoking on the floor, it’s about smoking in people’s personal living space,” Smith added. “We all have to live in this community as a family.”
Govoni received two other reports of the aroma of marijuana on 3rd Memorial last week. All three reports came in the week after he reiterated that smoking, as well as the aroma of tobacco or marijuana in the building, is prohibited, at the mandatory all-dorm meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 8.
The most recent annual security and fire report revealed that there were two judicial referrals for drug law violations in 2012. Both of these violations were in residence halls. In 2011, there were six on-campus referrals, but none of them were in residence halls.
“This is the first time in the entire 2013-2014 semesters that smoking actually happened in the building and it wasn’t just an aroma,” Govoni said.
Govoni said that it might not have been someone that lives on the third floor, but that the 3rd Memorial bathroom would be locked indefinitely if another incident occurs.
The perpetrators have not been identified in any of the incidents.
When reached for comment, Vice President for Student Development Jeff Kirksey, who was away at a professional conference, deferred to Associate Dean of Residential Life Robert Benjamin.
But on Friday Benjamin said he was not able to respond to questions on the matter at this time. “I will continue to be busy working through our MLK Jr. activities and will not be available until after your publication date,” he said.