Liv Barton, Staff Writer–
Amanda Finkle, the former building service assistant (BSA) for South Quad, said the only reason she would ever leave Denison was if she “never had to work anymore.” Before winter break, she had quietly left.
Finkle worked in King, Stone, and Burton Halls on South Quad for three years and made students’ days with her caring and bubbly personality. When students returned from break and realized they would not see Finkle’s wide smile every morning, questions started buzzing around. Why did Finkle leave so suddenly?
Since the beginning of the school year, King Hall has been the center of discussions for both staff and students of Denison.
For the past four months, the residents of King Hall have had to deal with stressful situations in shared living spaces. At the same time, Finkle was responsible for taking care of the buildings of South Quad.
In October, a student took a microwave from the first floor shared kitchen and dropped it from the top of the third floor stairs. The floor was covered by shards of glass and the crash was heard throughout the building. There have been incidents reported of stolen common space furniture.
This led to Residential Communities representatives coming down to King Hall to politely ask students to return the furniture. It’s unknown what disciplinary actions are being taken to deter future violations.
The day after the election results were called in November, there were rumors of a pro-Trump rally being held in King Hall, leaving many students feeling unsafe in their own home.
Tyler Thompson ‘27, a resident of King, believes that there is a “lost respect of space because [the perpetrators] believe someone else will do it.”
Thompson began his year in East Hall, on the other side of campus. He recalls rarely seeing the BSA staff, except for the occasional greeting in the mornings. Before coming to King, his experience with shared bathrooms were relatively tame. His biggest complaints were mainly “cosmetic things”, like toothpaste being left in the sink or paper towels missing the trash can. King was a different story.
The most common issue has to do with the restrooms that have become a battleground. Almost daily, the gender-neutral stalls in King are vandalized with some form of bodily fluid. For four months, residents have had to face repeated incidents of deliberate misuse, raising concerns about hygiene, safety, and respect within the community. A handful of residents refuse to clean up after themselves or have respect for the shared bathroom.
To make matters worse, when Finkle left and students returned to campus after break, South Quad was left without a consistent BSA. Lisa Coleman was called to help out.
Coleman joined the Denison BSA team in October, beginning her training in Slayter. From here, she was assigned as a “floater,” someone who floats between different buildings on campus to maintain their spotless appearances. Prior to being assigned to King, Coleman spent her time on campus in buildings like Beth Eden and the Mitchell Athletic Center.
When Coleman told her coworkers that she was going to be assigned to King, she was warned.
“Everytime I mentioned I was assigned to King, someone would say ‘Oh no! You’re in King?’” Coleman said.
Coleman was assigned to King just before students returned back to campus for the spring semester. Her days typically start around 5 p.m., some days not leaving until midnight.
Her biggest qualm with the condition of the building is the lack of respect of the shared spaces. She wishes students would follow through on taking their personal trash outside to the dumpster, rather than letting the common space trash cans become a game of Jenga. She works from top to bottom in every building she’s assigned to, scrubbing down bathrooms, despite her bothersome arthritis.
“I’m strong like my mother and my grandmother. I just take a Tylenol”, she said.
King Hall has certainly garnered a reputation around the BSA staff community for being a less than optimal assignment, but Coleman doesn’t see it this way. While King has had its problems, Coleman says building a relationship with students makes everything worth it, saying she’s “met a lot of nice people there.”
Coleman’s hard work did not go unnoticed. According to Thompson, it’s everyone’s job to help “curate the space” they want to live in, and Coleman’s role in that is no small feat.