RICHMOND, Ky. (LEX 18) — Students living in the Clay Dorms at Eastern Kentucky are already starting their semester today a step behind their classmates.
“That night I pulled an all-nighter. I had to sleep on the floor in someone’s apartment. I was freezing. Like all the other students,” Sophomore Jonathan Knapp said.
This past Saturday night, a student damaged a sprinkler on the 8th floor. This caused the system to explode, which meant Knapp and the rest of the students had to evacuate.
“It just looked like a scene out of a movie, honestly,” added Knapp.
Water made its way all the way down to the lobby. So Knapp and about 200 other students who live in Clay Hall were forced to evacuate.
“It was extremely frustrating and a ton of confusion for everybody,” said Napp.
Though it felt dysfunctional in the moment, Knapp credited the University for how they handled the situation.
“Even the students that weren’t being the most positive, I could see them listening and trying to make it a positive situation,” said Resident Assistant Andrew Taylor.
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Taylor went on to say how the school community rallied together during this moment of adversity. The EKU sports teams, and even the president came to the dorm in the middle of the night, to help evacuate students.
“It’s really inspiring for you as a student to see someone like that help you,” he said.
While Taylor was one of the students that got relocated, Knapp’s dorm room was unaffected. Meaning he got to stay put.
Though these two guys had different experiences, they have the same mindset when it comes to handling this kind of situation.
“It’s kind of just how life is. Not everything is going to be perfect 24/7, not everything is going to be sunshine and rainbows,” said Taylor.
“Things happen, and nobody is going to sit around and catered towards you,” concluded Knapp.
