Author: Soo Jin Kim
On Monday Oct. 6, 2008, student library worker Kayla Furman (sophomore) noticed a damaged chair when she went into the Cumberland Room of the Mary Norton Clapp Library to hang up that day’s newspapers. She reported it to her supervisor, Theresa Clock, the Periodicals Assistant, who then reported it to Tarri Vihtelic, the Administrative Assistant. Vihtelic then reported the damage to Campus Safety, who interviewed both Furman and Clock about the chair.
The back of the leather armchair in the Cumberland Room had been vandalized by an unknown suspect. A symbol had been etched into the chair by a sharp object, possibly a key. When Campus Safety asked Furman as to what the sign may have meant, Vihtelic said that, “Kayla said she thought it meant ‘no homework.'” The symbol had the initials HW inside a circle with a band across it. Facilities are still working at removing the sign from the chair.
“It is really disappointing,” Vihtelic said. “All these rooms were renovated and created for the students to use, to study, and have quiet rooms for discussion.”
Though she did not know exactly how much each individual chair had cost, Vihtelic did say that renovating the rooms had been expensive and was disappointed to learn that the library’s furniture had been damaged.
“Everything here is for the students, so it’s really heartbreaking and very unnecessary for this to have happened,” she said.
Students responded with disappointment. Audrey Grant (sophomore) said, “I think that it is childish and immature. We’re not middle schoolers, and we should respect our school.” Alex Stevens (sophomore) agreed. “It’s juvenile,” he said. “It shows a disregard for the long-term implications of a small impulsive act.”
None of the student employees who had worked in the Cumberland Room had noticed the vandalized chair during the weekend. Nobody had noticed anything until the Monday when Furman first spotted it.
Security has not been tightened, and there is no CCTV [closed-circuit television] in that vicinity. “It’s a fine line – you don’t want to be all over the students [by installing CCTV] and you don’t want students doing this sort of behavior,” Vihtelic said.
When asked about whether there had been other acts of vandalism in the library, Vihtelic replied that there had been things etched into the bathroom mirrors, drawings on walls and scratches on tables. Things had been stolen as well, including some of the circular pillows in the Cumberland Room, and a heavy bust that was located in a third floor hall.
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