Pace University students on the Pleasantville campus had to leave their rooms by 10 p.m. on Wednesday due to a gas leak. The buildings that had to be evacuated included the Townhouses, Martin Hall, and North Hall. Cots were set up in the Willcox Gym but less than 15 students spent the night. The students on the cots complained that it was uncomfortable and how much they couldn't wait to get back to their rooms.
Many students either chose to go home, or to spend the night with other students they knew from the Briarcliff campus, which is about five miles away. Pleasantville residents had access to their rooms one final time yesterday from 10 a.m. until 12 p.m. to collect any belongings they weren’t able to take with them two nights ago. During that time, Tiffany Bermudez, Residence Director for Martin Hall, said that the heat would be restored so that students could return by Monday, but students should be back in their rooms sooner than scheduled.
Work is being done by two contractors hired by Pace to lay the new gas pipe. The boilers that were shipped in from Virginia yesterday morning are being installed to the residence halls. Crews have been working through the night to restore heat to the residence halls. The Townhouses will be fully heated and open for residential students to begin to return today at 4:30 p.m. and there will be an update on Martin and North halls later today. If all goes as expected, students may return to Martin and North halls tonight. Over the past couple of days, many students who had to evacuate their buildings, didn’t have an easy transition.
“It was a little chaotic because they had everyone move so quickly,” said Jonathan Vargas, junior and psychology major at Pace. “They made some accommodations but they left the students to fend for themselves. They did the bare minimum but they didn’t try to get hotels.”
Vargas is a Martin Hall resident who ended up spending the night with some friends from the Briarcliff campus.
“They weren’t specific enough in their emails,” said Vargas. “Students didn’t even know if Kessel was open today.”
Vargas was not the only one who expressed disappointment in the way the situation was handled. Joseph Vacco, who also lives in Martin Hall, felt as though Pace could have notified students much earlier.
“It was frustrating because I was in class when notified," Vacco said. "Our whole class was ruined and my teacher was pretty angry. The email wasn’t sent until 7 p.m. to get out and pack. They rushed us to get out, which I thought was ridiculous. I got lucky because I live one hour away but what about the people who live farther?”
Classes were not canceled yesterday, but many students expressed gratitude that their professors allowed them to leave class early so that they could pack for the final time yesterday. Updated emergency information has been emailed to students by the Director of Residential Life, Alerie Tirsch. Residential Life worked toward making sure that every student who had to leave the Pleasantville campus had proper housing. However, there were some students who just didn’t receive her emails.
“There was a girl in my class who didn’t even know she could get the last of her stuff from her room,” said Mayra Pesantez, senior and accounting major. “She checked her emails but she didn’t get anything. It’s a good thing our professor let us out early, or else she wouldn't have been able to get her things.”
Heat was restored two nights ago to the Kessel Student Center and the Goldstein Health and Fitness Center. Goldstein Food service is fully operational in all locations. Free coffee and hot chocolate is available to students on all campus food service locations and there was free pizza provided to students on the Briarcliff café last night at 9 p.m.
Students are being asked to continue to check their emails for further updates since the other buildings are expected to open this evening. All events that were planned for this weekend are running as scheduled, which means that things are almost back to normal.
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