Students at Elon University have begun to notice the inequality in laundry accommodations across campus.
With some students receiving free laundry as others have to dole out quarter after quarter in the same building, residents are frustrated.
“I feel like it’s unfair,” said sophomore Emma Davidman. “Especially since some of the students who receive free laundry pay less for their living space than some who have to pay.”
Davidman lives in the Sigma Kappa House in the Loy Center, and she says she is paying significantly more this year for her living accommodations than she did last year in her ten-person downstairs flat in the Danieley Neighborhood.
The Danieley Flats have presented a dilemma when it comes to laundry. Upstairs flats received free laundry in their suites last year, and all downstairs flats had to share two washers and two dryers and pay for their own laundry.
“It’s inconsistent and a little unfair,” said sophomore Campbell Wentworth-Ping. “I don’t know what it’s like in the other Danieleys, but here we have two washers and two dryers for downstairs and then upstairs has free laundry in their suites. It’s the luck of draw. It’s not like they tell you when you’re signing up for rooms, and they probably should.”
Another laundry inequality students find burdensome is the inconsistency between swiping a Phoenix card and paying in quarters.
Sophomore Abigail Peabody, who lives in the Sigma Kappa house with Davidman, faces this problem.
“There is no swipe access for a Phoenix card, so we have to pay in quarters only,” Peabody said. “In Colonnades, it was the same price, but there was swipe access to Phoenix Cash that was a little more convenient.”
Access to quarters can quickly become a problem for students, especially since businesses around campus are reluctant to make change or will not.
“It’s quite a hassle to constantly have to go to the bank and get quarters while other students simply get to swipe a pre-paid card,” Davidman said.
Other students have complaints about the high expense of laundry on campus.
“I spend such excessive amounts on laundry because our washers and dryers are so inefficient,” said junior Riley Billman, who lives in Sloan.
Some students just don’t understand why they need to pay.
“Why do I have to pay for laundry if everything else on this campus is included in tuition?” said freshman Trae Baldwin.
Residence Life has heard these complaints and is taking them into consideration.
“We know that it is not equitable,” said MarQuita Barker, associate director of Residence Life for operations and information management. “We are moving towards a plan to make it more equitable for students.”
Other issues are not with paying for laundry, but with the machines themselves and access to enough washers and dryers.
“It’s really just gross,” said sophomore and Danieley apartment resident Katrine Ryan. “When I first went to do laundry, there were live spiders in the part where you put softener in. And there’s mold all over the place.”
Students are also concerned about the lack of working washers.
“A couple of weeks ago one of our washers broke, and it still hasn’t been fixed,” said sophomore Cassidy Levy, who lives in the Academic Pavilions. “I think they need to understand that laundry is not something we do for fun. We need to do laundry — you want us to do laundry — so they should prioritize that.”
Residents in Danieley apartments share four washers and four dryers with three other apartment buildings. That adds up to 96 people using the same machines.
“I don’t think its reasonable to think three whole apartments can share four washers and four dryers,” said sophomore Sydney Holmes. “There should be more.”
There may be issues with the functionality of the machines, too.
“I think the laundry is pretty shoddy,” Wentworth-Ping said. “You always hear about machines breaking down with malfunctions and leaks. I’ve actually never heard of one dryer that works properly.”
Auxiliary Services, a third party vendor, is responsible for all repairs and costs for washers and dryers in common areas of residential neighborhoods, or any machine that isn’t in a suite or room. Residence Life is still working to address students concerns as well.
“We want students to know that we care about them,” Barker said. “We don’t want them to be excessively expensive. We want them to work and have access to washers and dryers. It’s just a work in progress.”
Even students who no longer deal with these problems find some issue with the laundry accommodations on campus.
“I think it’s unfair to make some students pay and others not,” said senior Rachel Fishman. “I think it further disadvantages those who are not, or cannot, pay for more expensive housing.”
Fishman currently lives in Station at Mill Point where she said there is a “huge” laundry room for only four people.
Despite the number of complaints from students around various areas of campus, some don’t have much of a problem with laundry.
“I’m fine with doing my own laundry, and I get why we have to pay for it,” said first-year Raleigh Burrell. “As long as my clothes aren’t stolen, I’m OK with it.”
For students that do feel that laundry on campus is overpriced, there are alternatives. But they are no cheaper.
The Washboard, a local laundromat located on North Holt Street behind the Elon Community Church, opens its doors to students, faculty, staff and community members every day of the week.
It is open from 8:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday and 1:30 to 10 p.m. on Sunday.
If students are looking to pay less for their laundry, The Washboard may not be the answer. Prices are much higher, with washing costing $3.25 and drying costing $4.25. Students may be better offer paying the cost for their broken machines on Elon’s campus.
Another alternative for Elon students unsatisfied with their laundry accommodations is Elon Laundry, a service that launders your clothes for you.
The service offers a monthly, semester-long or annual rate and depends on the weight of the laundry. A students’ laundry is picked up, laundered, sorted by color, folded and delivered within 48 hours.
“In the long run, we are fully insured,” said cofounder Pete Ustach. “There is less of a risk of something happening to your clothes with us than on a college campus.”
Between not knowing how to do laundry, shrinking clothes and waiting three hours for something to dry and it still coming out damp, Ustach believes his company provides a service that busy college students need.
According to his estimates, it would average out to about $15 to $20 a week.
“You pay an extra ten dollars, and you don’t have to waste your time doing it,” Ustach said.
Between 60 and 80 students are currently signed up for the service for a variety of reasons.
“We market it as a way for parents or grandparents to give students a gift for going to college when they don’t really need anything else,” Ustach said.
With a variety of options available to students about how they will clean their clothes — and that includes going to their friends’ homes to use their free laundry — it’s up to them to decide what they are willing to deal with when it comes to dirty laundry.