On Wednesday, Feb. 12th, residents of Good Counsel Hall received an email about several acts of vandalism that occurred in the building recently. The email, sent by Director for Housing and Operations Marie Schauder and East Area Coordinator Shalyssa Smith, listed some of the incidents that occurred and warned students of the consequences.

The incidents listed in the email included, “multiple bulletin boards as well as many flyers/advertisements ripped down throughout the building, unknown individuals urinating in the hallway, toilet paper taken out of the holders and placed in each toilet in the men’s bathrooms, damage to equipment in the restrooms, rolls of paper towels/toilet paper unraveled in the hallways, broken furniture in the lounge, damage to Wildcard Reader in the second floor Laundry Room and the third floor Custodial Closet Door.”

Unfortunately, regardless of whether the damage was done by Good Counsel residents, guests or students from other dorms, the financial burden will ultimately be distributed to the residents of Good Counsel if no one confesses to the damage.

“Costs to repair these damages are currently estimated to be over $5000, and if these types of incidents continue, the financial impact on each of you will grow,” the email read.

The amount of vandalism that has occurred shocked Schauder.

“I’ve never had the amount of damage in a freshman learning community as this,” Schauder said.

The email also warned students that “should these types of incidents continue to occur in the building, Residence Life will need to restrict guest visitation.”

Because of the actions of a few people, all residents of Good Counsel have felt the effects of the vandalism. Both Resident Assistants and teachers for the Good Counsel Freshman Leadership Learning Community were instructed to talk to the students about the damage.

In addition to the possible restrictions and costs, the presence of Public Safety Officers in Good Counsel has greatly increased due to the vandalism.

“Public Safety Officers will periodically be doing rounds if the damage continues,” Schauder said.

This past Friday, two Public Safety Investigators questioned 25 students in the dorm randomly to see if they had any information about the damages. The students spoken to were given information about an anonymous tip line if they had any more information.

“Our goal is to keep the residents safe,” Schauder said. “We just need the vandalism to stop.”