TO: Campus Community
FR: Karen Moranski, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs and Monir Ahmed, Vice President for Administration and Finance
This morning the campus received reports of noxious smells in Darwin Hall and the Campus Recreation Center. The source of the smell was identified as a mechanical issue with a vacuum pump on the roof of Darwin Hall that caused a burned oil smell to get into the ventilation system. To a small extent, the ventilation from Darwin Hall was drawn into the air intake of the Recreation Center, causing both buildings to be evacuated.
The Recreation Center was cleared and reopened shortly after the initial evacuation. In Darwin Hall, classes, labs, and research groups were either moved or canceled. Although operations were cleared to resume by the Environmental Health and Safety office, Darwin Hall will remain closed for the rest of the day, but is expected to reopen and resume normal operations tomorrow.
At this time, we are flushing both buildings with 100% outside air, and anticipate that the smell will continue to dissipate throughout the afternoon, which may cause the buildings to feel cooler than normal.
While on campus, if you smell gas, or an unusual strong odor, evacuate the affected building immediately and call 911.