Windows are cracked open at Mack Hall during the summer heat. Credit: Michael Goulet | Campus Photo Editor
Students didn’t plan to sleep in the basement of their dorm this semester. However, when temperatures recently reached up to 95 degrees inside the rooms, some residents of Mack Hall felt like they had no other choice.
Ella McPhillips, a first-year in microbiology, woke up on Sept. 3 at 4 a.m. due to what she said was miserable heat. She said she and her roommate walked downstairs to the basement hoping to get sleep in a cooler room.
Every chair and couch was taken with students who had the same idea. McPhillips said that she slept on a bench and her roommate slept on a table.
According to social media posts, students that live in the South Campus residence halls have been sleeping in the basements of their dorms because of the fact that their rooms do not have A.C. installed.
“There were people lying on the ground,” McPhillips said. “They had sleeping bags. There were people on chairs. It looked like a summer camp.”
University spokesperson Dave Isaacs said in an email that Student Life sent each student a list of air-conditioned spaces in their residence halls, as well as placing large fans in the hallways to circulate air throughout the building.
“The health and safety of our students is Ohio State’s top priority,” Isaacs said.
Isaacs also said that Student Life stocked refrigerators with water and treats – such as flavored ice – and that students can request to receive one free box fan per room through the student life facilities website.
“In the long term, we are actively making progress on adding air conditioning to halls that currently do not have it,” Isaacs said. “Just last week, the university Board of Trustees approved funding to air condition Baker East and Baker West Halls over next summer, although we acknowledge the action did not address the recent heat wave.”
Mack Hall has multiple different study rooms, but each room was taken by other students trying to sleep there, according to McPhillips.
“It’s frustrating,” McPhillips said. “I understand it’s an old building, but there’s heating and there’s A.C. in the basement. So, I don’t understand why they can’t just put A.C. in the rooms.”
Kathy Pham, a first-year in biology, is also a Mack Hall resident. She said she and her roommates slept in the basement from Sept. 1-5. She made a video that ended up getting over 251,000 views on TikTok about students in the basement.
Pham said that one of her hall advisors saw the video and told Pham that she could not sleep in the basement.
“Because my TikTok blew up, one of the hall directors found me and had a conversation with me, and she told me that I wasn’t allowed to sleep in the basement anymore, and that she was reaching out to other people to tell them the same thing,” Pham said.
Pham said that temperatures for the dorm rooms exceed 90 degrees.
“Some people have a thermostat in their dorms, and it’s saying it reaches up to 94 degrees,” Pham said. “Our dorm is way hotter than the outside temperature. It’s thick, it lays itself onto you, it’s very uncomfortable. There’s still a good chunk of people sleeping in the basement.”
Baker — both East and West —, Bradley, Canfield, Mack and Paterson Halls are the campus dorms that do not have air conditioning, according to a university website.
According to prior Lantern report, ing in 2024, Isaacs said that adding air conditioning to all residence halls is a priority for Student Life, but there was not a specific timeline or date as to when this would be initiated.
McPhillips said that being in the constant heat has made her daily routine and mood feel more negative.
“I personally hate the heat, so having to not only exist in the heat, but sleep in the heat, I’ve been grouchy,” McPhillips said. “I feel like I’m not fun to be around. I haven’t been sleeping the best because I feel like I wake up sweaty. I feel gross all of the time.”
Pham said that despite the negative effects of the lack of cool air, she has met a lot of new people and has had fun with her friends.
“For the past few days, we’ve all just been chilling in the basement,” Pham said. “We’ve made a little friend group in the basement because it’s cool down there. It’s actually not uncomfortable.”
