Two floods struck campus this week, including one in student dormitory Toni Morrison Hall on Monday and one in academic building Rockefeller Hall over the weekend. The floods and impacted areas are being addressed, according to messaging from HRL to Morrison residents and an email from the College of Arts and Sciences room reservation service obtained by The Sun.
“A freezing event” caused notable flooding in the entrance of Toni Morrison Hall early Monday morning, according to a Monday email from HRL to Morrison residents. Additionally, at least seven classrooms in Rockefeller Hall are closed due to flooding and power outages over the weekend, according to the email from CAS room reservation service.
HRL informed Morrison residents that no student rooms were affected by the flood in the Monday email. However, the lobby and entrance near the Toni Morrison Multipurpose Room will be closed while the flooding is addressed.
“A pipe in the entrance of Toni Morrison Hall (closest to the Toni Morrison Multi-purpose Room) discharged as the result of a freezing event, causing flooding localized to the vestibule and entrance to the building,” the HRL spokesperson wrote.
Morrison is a dormitory that houses over 300 sophomores, juniors and seniors, and is home to the Toni Morrison Fitness Center and Crossings Café.
These floods come less than a month after a sprinkler main pipe burst in Morrison’s neighboring building Ganędagǫ: Hall, displacing 46 residents.
Although student rooms were not directly damaged in the Morrison flood, the flooding still impacted residents’ access to building amenities. Morrison resident Esmeralda Alverde Duarte ’28 was among the residents affected.
“I regularly use the first floor kitchen to bake cookies as it’s the only residential oven,” said Alverde Duarte. “Having to step over the sloshy floor with noisy fans trying to dry [the flooding] is not ideal.”
In the meantime, HRL instructed Morrison residents to use the entrance near Crossings Café to enter the building, and to utilize the elevator to access the fitness center and laundry room.
Rockefeller Hall, an academic building on Central campus, is home to the Asian Studies department and Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies program. Several classes and labs were cancelled or moved to remote instruction on Zoom due to the floods.
Jonah Van der Linden ’28, a student in PHYS 1102: General Physics II, told the Sun that he received an email from his professor stating that the class’ lab and exam locations in Rockefeller Hall were closed on Monday due to a power outage in the building.
Additionally, student organizations that booked rooms in Rockefeller were impacted by the classroom closures, including the Cornell Political Union. Max Troiano ’28, vice president of recruitment for CPU, said that he was informed of the classroom’s closure at 10 a.m. on the day of his organization’s room booking.
“I have some bad news,” the CAS room reservation service wrote in an email to Troiano. “We have been notified that each of [the rooms Troiano intended to book] are currently offline, due to flooding and/or no power. The rooms are unavailable today and possibly tomorrow.”
When communicating with the CAS room reservations services, Troiano said that there was an “urgency” to accommodate him. However, he also reported “misdirection” and “uncertainty” in the process.
Pipe bursts commonly occur in cold weather, and Ithaca has recently experienced multiple weeks of sub-zero temperatures. In a Jan. 19 email to the Cornell community, HRL reminded students to keep windows and doors closed and to report heating issues to maintenance in order to prevent freezing pipes.
Reflecting on recent events, Alverde Duarte said that she “should’ve been more prepared for flooding after what happened with Ganędagǫ:.”
Mary Caitlin Cronin is a member of the Class of 2028 in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She is a senior staff writer for the News department and can be reached at mcronin@cornellsun.com.
