COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Classes kicked off over a month ago, but the University of Maryland is facing some old problems: mold.
The school battled a mold issue in Elkton Hall, a dorm, back in 2018. Now, faculty and students are finding it in classrooms.
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“In some offices it's covering anything that’s on the floor, so if you leave a backpack on the ground it’ll turn whitish gray within a couple of days,” Barnet Pavao-Zuckerman, an associate professor and associate chair of the Anthropology Department, said.
It's Pavoa-Zuckerman’s fifth year teaching, and every year, in Woods Hall, she said there’s humidity issues. This year she feels the issue is coming to a head.
"We’re literally in our office wiping mold off books, and throwing out personal items that are moldy. Backpacks and couches and chairs are just having to get thrown out," Pavao-Zuckerman said.
Umai Habibah, a faculty member in the department sent WUSA9 photos she says were taken inside Woods Hall this year.
The photos show splotches of green caking furniture and spores growing on books.
"We had a faculty meeting and we were asked to raise our hand if we had had any health issues from the mold and I think, there was maybe one or two people that didn’t," Pavao-Zuckerman said. "It was everyone in the building."
WUSA 9 contacted the University administration and the Facilities Management Department issued a statement acknowledging the humidity issues:
“Sections of the impacted areas sit below grade level and maintain a high level of relative humidity…we have taken a number of responsive and proactive measures to combat humidity challenges. These include mold remediation, renovation, foundation waterproofing and installation of rain guards.”
Paul Shackel, head of the anthropology department said that despite the university’s steps, the issues persist.
He said he's allergic to mold, and the compounding problems have only made his symptoms worse.
"When people started to complain about headaches, congestion or rashes, I noticed I started to get these rashes about the same time when the mold issues started to become inflamed within the building," Shackel said.
Shackel wants to see Woods Hall get further renovations including central air for the first and second floor and new windows.