When Chris Xyloportas moved into his Munson Hall room this fall, he had some “unexpected roommates,” he said.
The junior was one of at least three students who reported cockroaches in their rooms so far this year. A University spokesman confirmed this week that three rooms in Munson Hall are being treated for the pests.
Xyloportas said he first saw the bugs the day he moved into Munson Hall. He said facilities workers visited his eighth floor room on three separate occasions to seal, spray and inspect the room, but live cockroaches reappeared several days after the treatment in places like his sink, shower and refrigerator.
“Today my roommate found one on the table while we were eating. It was crawling on his laptop,” Xyloportas said this week. “We find one a few times a week.”
Students in one room affected by pests were relocated to another room on campus, University spokesman Brett Zongker said. He added that GW moves students to other rooms because of facilities issues on a case-by-case basis.
“Relocation to a hotel is not routine but is used in cases where an alternate temporary or permanent space on campus is not immediately available,” he said.
Staff members who are licensed pest control technicians perform routine treatments and services in buildings, but the University also hires outside contractors a few times a year to complete preventative pest treatments, Zongker said.
Staff also began conducting room inspections for wall cracks and holes that might require sealing as part of preventative pest control treatments during the first week of classes, according to an email obtained by The Hatchet that Paris Rossiter, Munson Hall’s building manager, sent to residents.
Students living in the hall complained of similar issues with cockroaches last year, and several rooms in other residence halls were also recently treated for bed bugs.
It would take about a week for the cockroach treatment to take full effect, according to a FIXit tag from when Xyloportas’s room was treated Aug. 29. A worker said he would give the room a box to store their food in so that the bugs wouldn’t be attracted to the food, Xyloportas said.
