By Matthew Kaufman
Former Editor-in-Chief
Decker and Cromwell will be the next residence halls on campus to get air conditioning, after the Board of Trustees approved the project at its meeting on Feb. 25.
The installation, which has an estimated cost of $2 million, has a targeted completion date of August 2026. The project is funded by capital housing reserves, according to the Board of Trustees meeting agenda.
The College has not yet settled on what specific type of air conditioning system will be used in the buildings, Sharon Blanton, the College’s vice president of operations, told The Signal in a statement. Norsworthy Hall received window air conditioning units at the beginning of this academic year.
“We are very excited to get the project started,” Blanton said.
The cooling upgrade will serve more than 600 students in total, according to Shawn Sarver, the College’s associate vice president for facilities management.
“The buildings are very similar so a single design, with some modifications, can be used for both buildings,” Sarver said in a statement. “This helps reduce the overall cost of the project.”
High heat in residence halls has been a challenge for students of the College, especially at the outset of academic years. In the fall 2023 semester, several students sought medical attention due to the heat experienced in their dorms.
This issue is not unique to the College, as universities across the country with older residence buildings have been grappling with keeping students safe and comfortable in the face of rising temperatures and longer-lasting heat due to climate change. In 2019, the student newspaper at the University of Maryland, The Diamondback, placed heat sensors in eight of the school’s residence halls without air conditioning and found that the average heat index in the buildings, which takes into account both heat and humidity, never went below 80 degrees during a week in September.
For students who are not in air-conditioned buildings, Residential Education & Housing provides several recommendations for staying cool. According to an email sent to residents in August 2024, these include putting your sheets in the fridge or freezer before bed, creating a cross-breeze in the room and wrapping frozen water bottles in a cloth.
