On the night of March 8, the Welcome Center of Lewis University was flooded, affecting two essential departments of Lewis University.
The Welcome Center is a building located right next to the entrance of the Lewis University campus. Inside are offices for departments such as admissions and university advancement..
In the middle of the night,, one of the pipes suffered a malfunction that caused a flood that affected all the people that work there daily. Unfortunately, the damage was too big since the water leaked all night and was discovered until the next morning.
Nobody was injured in the incident, but the damage caused by the flood was significant. The carpets were completely soaked and the walls were left damp and ruined. The advancement and admissions departments had no choice but to relocate temporarily to other areas of the campus.
Tyler King, Associate Director of International Recruitment, stated “It affected the whole of the Welcome Center – which is home to two offices: Admissions and Advancement. The admission staff was relocated to a variety of different office spaces on campus, mostly in the LRC”.
As an example, the advancement team was relocated in the business office, located on the ground floor of the LRC. The ground floor of the LRC has become a busy space as the floor’s bathroom is currently in the process of being renovated as well, however the project should finish soon. Seems as though the flooding of the welcome center came at the wrong timing.
In the meantime, prospective students and their families will be directed to other locations on campus to meet with admissions staff, and those who want to talk to the university advancement team, will have to go to the business office and meet with the personel.
Recently, university advancement held their annual “Day of Giving”, a university-wide event held each year in an attempt to attract potential donors and alumni to give back to the University. The event was originally planned to take place at the Welcome Center, yet the burst pipe altered plans.
Fortunately, the event still happened, just in a different location. The “Day of Giving” was held on March 28 at Strich Hall, where the advancement team gave out candy, coffee, donuts, information about scholarships and more.
The flood has caused significant disruption for the university, but facilities are currently working on repairing the damage of the building, and also making sure that the problem does not happen again.
The university is working hard to minimize the impact on their students and staff.
