Laundry is a chore. Lugging heavy baskets full of clothing, detergent softener, and dryer sheets up and down stairs then through long hallways can be exhausting. The search for quarters can seem endless and with multiple loads of washing and drying, laundry can get expensive.
Since Residence Education and Housing Services, or REHS, began offering free laundry services in all residence halls last year, many students have taken advantage of it — even a few off-campus students.
For theatre junior Imani Bonner , who lives off campus, doing laundry is not as simple as walking downstairs and tossing a few loads into the washer.
Inadequate amenities, no personal transportation and a busy schedule make her laundry routine difficult. Because of that she resorted to using MSU’s free laundry services.
“I use it because it’s free and also because they have really good washers and dryers. They hold a lot of clothes,” Bonner said.
Though her apartment complex has washers and dryers, Bonner said tenants have to pay for them, they are smaller and “they’re not that good.” Sometimes, they do not work properly and Bonner doesn’t want to waste money on faulty machines.
MSU aims to give on-campus residents a better experience.
“We are constantly looking at ways to enhance our services to students,” said Ashley Chaney, Assistant Director of Communications for REHS.
Although Bonner takes advantage of the free laundry service, it isn’t convenient for her. She does her laundry less often than she typically would because it is taxing and time consuming.
Bonner said a friend picks her up with her laundry and they drive back to the friend’s residence hall. There, Bonner washes and dries her clothes as quickly as possible so she can then load clean clothes back into her friend’s car and get dropped off at her apartment complex.
“So far, I’ve only done it once,” Bonner said. “I try not to do it that often because it’s an inconvenience.”
Chaney said there is no way for REHS to track the use of laundry facilities by nonresidents, but laundry rooms on campus require key cards to permit access. That is meant to control usage.
“We would hope that our halls are our students’ homes and they would take some ownership of that,” Chaney said in response to the idea of residents granting access to off-campus friends.
Biomedical laboratory science junior Kayln Smith said she has never seen any off-campus students in the laundry room, but that it could definitely happen.
Smith said if the practice were to grow it could be a problem because the number of washers and dryers is limited. Availability would be a big concern, she said.
Chaney said if usage by nonresidents came to the attention of REHS or residence hall staff, consequences “would be on a case-by-case basis.”
