Brendon Hathaway, sophomore in history, received an email on Friday, May 1 stating that on Monday, he would need to arrive on campus by 7 a.m. to pick up his belongings left in Camp Hall.
Unlike the other dorms, students from Camp Hall were not able to go directly to their dorms to pick up their belongings left in their dorms and instead were asked to arrive at another location to pick up boxes that had been packed by a moving company hired by UAB.
Recently, Camp Hall was the dorm announced by UAB that Camp Hall will house health care workers and first responders who are at the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Since we were part of Camp Hall and our stuff was moved, I was already kind of worried beforehand.”
Students this week were asked to pick up their remaining possessions from their dorms. Some students from Camp Hall reported damaged or missing items.
According to UAB Housing, of the 392 students whose property was packed and stored for the remainder of the spring semester, few students encountered problems while picking up their things.
“With the volume of items filling over 850 large boxes, we have learned of a very small number of items damaged or misplaced in the process,” a statement from UAB Housing read. “…students’ belongings were moved out of Camp Hall and into secure, climate-controlled storage to make room for our brave healthcare workers fighting for us on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. Belongings from a limited number of Blazer Hall rooms were also stored to make room for students who remain on campus and were moved from Camp into Blazer.”
When Hathaway arrived to pick up his possessions, he said he was shocked.
Hathaway said almost half of all his belongings were left at Camp Hall before he left months ago when UAB abruptly asked all students to go home in light of COVID-19.
When he entered the room where all the boxes were stored and labeled by room number, he said immediately noticed that almost 25% of his possessions seemed damaged.
“I had a humidifier that was broken, the $80 worth of posters I brought were completely ripped up because they [moving company]threw them in the bottom of the box,” Hathaway said. “There were also some shards of glass in the box too that came from some of my food jars that were now damaged.”
What Hathaway said he was most upset about however, was over a family heirloom he kept in his dorm that is now missing.
“I had a leather bag that’s been passed down for about three generations that just disappeared,” Hathaway said.
Another student, Emily Payne, junior in biology, said almost half of her belongings were missing.
“I don’t know if they lost boxes though moving but my clothes, my shoes, almost $1000 worth of my stuff is gone,” Payne said.
Payne said finding out on a Friday that she had to be back on campus on Monday was frustrating for her.
“I’m from Semmes, Alabama and I live four and a half hours away from UAB. I wish they told me more than three days beforehand.”
Student Evelyn Gray said she has over 20 items missing, including cutting boards, shower curtains, glass bowls and more.
“I also have four other plants but none of them were in our boxes,” another student, Sophie Walker said. “Which sucks because the pots belonged to my grandmother and they were special.”
According to UAB Housing, Of the 392 students whose property was packed and stored for the remainder of the spring semester, encountered little problems while picking up their things.
“As the collection of items continues, we anticipate locating most lost items that were not identified or mislabeled,” UAB Housing statement read. “Our staff photo-documented the belongings and condition of each apartment prior to the packing and storage process beginning. For those that were damaged as a result of the move or not found once all residents collect their items, we will work with each resident on a case-by-case basis to address these concerns. While not everything has gone perfectly during this unprecedented situation, we remain committed to supporting our students the best we can and minimizing disruptions as much as possible. We encourage students with questions or concerns to reach out to us at [email protected].”
