Rodin College House experienced an unanticipated water outage for over five hours on Oct. 8.
Penn Business Services Director of Communications and External Relations Courtney Dombroski wrote to The Daily Pennsylvanian that the shutdown occurred to fix a leak in the Rodin lobby. The shutdown began at approximately 9:30 a.m., and water was restored shortly after 3 p.m.
The DP was unable to confirm the cause of the leak.
Rodin residents did not receive any communication from building staff relating to the outage until 1:06 p.m., when Rodin Building Administrator Rae’Shelle Drayton-Greene wrote in an email to residents that the building would have an “emergency water shutdown” until approximately 3 p.m. Drayton-Greene wrote that the shutdown would affect the entire building, and added that she “fully expect[ed] the water to be functioning after repairs are made.”
Drayton-Greene added that, during the shutdown, residents were able to visit Harnwell or Harrison College Houses for “any public restroom or water needs.”
Drayton-Greene’s email, however, was sent three and a half hours after the shutdown began — leaving some students to unexpectedly discover the outage when attempting to shower or use the bathroom.
Drayton-Greene did not respond to a request for comment for this article.
In messages obtained by the DP, several Rodin residential advisors told the residents under their purview that the building was experiencing an unexpected water outage at approximately 10 a.m. Several RAs also followed up around 11 a.m. to inform their residents that water was turned off until 3 p.m. — information which was not conveyed to the entire building until two hours later.
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