As the weather has gotten warmer and there have been more sunny days, naturally students are opening windows in classrooms to let fresh air in. While this may seem harmless, it has unfortunately led to catastrophe over the weekend of April 25 — pigeons have invaded Tower Hall.
“Judging by the amount of feathers and bird poop in the hallways, they must have been in here all weekend. I’m going to have to get a whole new set of cleaning supplies! My mops are ruined.” a member of the janitorial staff said.
With students having fun at Mayfest activities or focusing on homework ahead of finals, Tower was so empty that no one noticed the mess until Monday morning. The fourth floor was most prominently affected, though traces of the birds were found all the way down by The Script office.
“It appears that someone left the art room windows open again, which allowed the pigeons to get inside,” a senior art minor said. “I won’t name names, but I have some suspicions about some of my classmates who may be at fault.”
Luckily no art pieces were harmed and the janitorial staff has been swift to clean up the mess. Several students had to be recruited to help chase the pigeons out the windows. Classes were cancelled on Monday and the building had to be shut down. Some students were hopeful that finals may be cancelled, but to their dismay the building is back open and operations will resume as normal for the remaining days of the semester.
“Everyone knows about the pigeons on campus. I can often hear them cooing outside the windows or see them flying around,” one freshman English major said, “I just never thought they would ever actually make it in the building!”
When asked to comment on the situation, members of the school’s administration said that unfortunately screens on the windows were not included in the budget for this year, but that it is their mission to “stay rooted in our Benedictine values.”
