Hugh’s anger at “hideous” state of college rooms
By Alis Lewis
St Hugh’s has come under fire this week for the “skanky” standard of its accommodation. Students were greeted with graffiti, broken furniture and cold showers on their return to college last week.
One student even came back to find a swastika carved into his wall by the previous occupant.
There has been a flood of complaints about the Wolfson building at St Hugh’s, with students forced to request a number of things to be replaced or repaired.
Walls of entire staircases in Wolfson have been chipped away at, dented into and graffitied; students are forced to kneel in the showers as they are too tall otherwise; and there aren’t enough sockets in the kitchens to run basic equipment at the same time.
Laurie Blackman, a second year historian who has reported numerous problems with his room, said: “I was incredibly disappointed to discover my room was adorned with graffiti as charming as a swastika and a cheerful ‘AIDS’ or two gouged into the walls.”
He described the scrawls as “aesthetically hideous”, and said the problem wasn’t just the defacement, but that it was so offensive.
Blackman conceded that the pinboard with the swastika was removed once he reported it to the college, but said he had “no right to find [his] room in that condition in the first place.”
Vicki Stott, Bursar at St Hugh’s, said she could “find no record of the graffiti you mention”. Although documents seen by the Oxford Student show the complaint was made, and dealt with by college maintenance.
In forms submitted by Blackman to the college, he had to request replacement curtains, a new mattress, and a lampshade for his main light. In addition, his bedside light required repair as the switch had been ripped off, and the left side of his desk was “only notionally attached to the rest of the desk”.
Sara Polakova, JCR President at St Hugh’s, apologised for the problems.
She said: “The graffiti and damage to rooms…is usually done by the summer schools that St Hugh’s accommodates during July and August.
“We are dealing with these complaints presently and repair of this vandalism will be charged to the relevant culprits.”
Problems were also noted with the standard of the bathrooms. Blackman said that if he kneels on his knees in the shower, he still touches the ceiling, and another historian living in Wolfson agreed, adding this problem affected a number of students.
He said: “We’ve got sinks in our rooms, but aside from that, have two toilets and one shower between 8.
“The shower doesn’t work, and has run intermittently ice cold, despite an earlier maintenance attempt to fix it. He added that everyone is “really fucked off” about the problems.
Blackman agreed, saying: “The showers were cold when we arrived, and hadn’t been cleaned.
In the same bathrooms, students found loose toilet door hinges, and toilet doors with no locks when they returned from vacation.
However, Polakova was quick to defend the college, saying: “There will always be issues with one or another part of College. St Hugh’s is not wealthy enough to be able to repair all pending issues simulteneously, so the Estates Manager must prioritise.
“The hot water issue is related to the main Hugh’s boiler breaking just before term started, which cost tens of thousands of pounds to replace. Students have been made aware of this and College are doing the best they can to get such issues sorted directly.”
Opinions of the kitchens in Wolfson fared no better. They were described as “just kind of skanky really” by a second year who did not wish to be named.
Despite students requesting a multiplug to allow them to use the oven, toaster and kettle at once, they “were told it was not something that college can provide”.
Students living in the building are annoyed at the disparity between the accommodation facilities throughout the college despite being charged the same for the “privilege” of living in Wolfson as those who live in RTB and Maplethorpe (which offer for the most part, en suite showers and loos).”
Vicki Stott, St Hugh’s Bursar, said: “We are currently drawing up a long term estates plan for the College. The Wolfson building is on the agenda for a comprehensive refurbishment, including upgrading bedrooms to ensuite facilities.
“We make every effort to keep the College buildings in a good state of repair. Unfortunately, some wear and tear is inevitable when living in old buildings, but I take seriously any reports of offensive graffiti and would urge students to report these through the maintenance request system so that we can deal with both the graffiti and its perpetrators as quickly as possible.”
Accommodation is randomly allocated in St Hughs by an alphabetic ballot, with students who receive a bad room one year supposedly getting a better one the next.
Anonymous
12/10/2012 at 20:00
You idiots balloted for that staircase, why didn’t you ballot for second floor kenyon you mugs?
Anonymous
12/10/2012 at 23:27
Everyone knows what Wolfson is like, you can’t say you didn’t know what you were balloting for…
Anonymous
12/10/2012 at 23:29
Also, I think you’ve mistaken a cupboard for a bathroom, because the ceilings aren’t THAT low and you’re not THAT tall…
anonymous2
13/10/2012 at 01:26
You were offered the choice to look around college before the surname-based ballot was run. Far nicer rooms were not selected in RTB and Maplethorpe and so were given to freshers. If freshers had been placed in your staircase they would have a legitimate reason to complain but it was common knowledge that the year before’s ‘staircase 6′ had trashed it. Why on earth did you choose to live there? Idiots. How can you be complaining about it now?
Anonymous
13/10/2012 at 17:54
who’s this clown?
Anonymous
13/10/2012 at 18:27
Anonymous
14/10/2012 at 01:25
Everywhere in college had cold water at the beginning of term, the boiler broke. This was announced with an apology from college at the JCR meeting last week which people would know if they bothered to show up…
anonymous
14/10/2012 at 10:19
Matt, you do have a suggested mechanism for sorting stuf out through the college maintenance request system. A load of stuff was wrong with my room when I started this term but the college has sorted most of it out pretty quickly and efficiently. Trying to apply ‘media pressure’ by grumbling to an Oxford student newspaper that hardly anyone reads makes you look reasonably childish and pathetic if you haven’t first given St. Hughs a chance to sort it out first.
Anonymous
14/10/2012 at 10:37
HAHAHA… you wanted Kenyon, ended up in Wolfson and then you complain about cold water!!!! Consider yourself lucky you are in Wolfson mate – Do you exist in a cave where college general knowledge fails to reach you? Kenyon is the college building renowned for having cold water…
Anonymous
16/10/2012 at 01:04
Despite the above negativity, I sympathise with Laurie’s predicament. It is totally unacceptable that the same amount of money is charged for rooms which vary significantly in quality. Moreover, the college is currently investing in a new ‘Dickson Poon’ building, which suggests, besides the fact that Hugh’s can’t name buildings to save their lives, that there are funds available for shiny new things, but not for basic investment in the lives of the current students. Their priorities are simply the wrong way round.
From personal experience, I have found the accommodation staff can be difficult to deal with, as they often are slow to respond and show a surprising degree of apathy.
Anonymous
16/10/2012 at 01:04
THIS WOULD NEVER HAVE HAPPENED IF LAURIE WAS PRESIDENT OF THE JCR
Anonymous
24/10/2012 at 20:23
Good luck getting president now boiiiiiiiiiiiiii
Anonymous
04/11/2012 at 17:45
Anyone using the excuse about ‘college know how’ is being DUMB. The point is that college should fulfil its legal obligations (hot waters, repairs) no matter where you come in the ballot. God knows they fine us if we break the tenancy agreement,,,