Juilliard students suffer flooding in exclusive dorms

Juilliard students suffer flooding in exclusive dorms

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norman lebrecht

February 04, 2018

We have received several reports of flooding this month in the student accommodation at the Juilliard School.

One student writes:

It’s 2:30am right now!!!! My room literally is a water fountain!!!!! All my stuff are fucked up!!!!! BTW, this is the dorm cost people $7900 per semester. Thanks a lot Juilliard!!!

Update: The cause is the sprinkler burst out. Besides all my stuff are soaked, my phone and computer went weird, and I smell like ass while I only wear soaking wet underwear. Everything is good. No one got hurt. What a night!!

Another adds:

This is the second time there has been a flood in the Juilliard dorms during my brief time here. Of course, the day after last year’s flood, the administration (led by Todd Porter) sent out an email claiming that they were accountable for nothing, and would not be reimbursing anyone for damages, even to precious instruments. They will surely do this again today.

What’s even more shameful is that this flood comes a mere 3 weeks after winter break, when the dorms were controversially shut down completely, turning away even international students, in order to allow for “comprehensive, building-wide maintenance”.

A third posts:

I love how the Juilliard dorms shut down during winter break for “comprehensive, building-wide maintenance” and then less than 3 weeks into second semester, a huge pipe burst results in the flooding of entire suites and the destruction of what could be thousands of dollars worth of personal property…

On Thursday, the Director of Residential Life at Juilliard sent out a memo saying that the school will not be held responsible or pay compensation for damage caused by the floods.

Slipped Disc respectfully suggests that Juilliard should reconsider and would like to hear when they do so.

Here’s some video:


Comments

  • Anon says:

    Of course Juilliard will not compensate for anything. It’s not news that Juilliard only cares about racking up money from its donors and students!

    • Sue says:

      What right have they got to make their institution sustainable? It’s a scandal. Students are victims. Again.

      • Toredofitall says:

        You can be snarky all you like, but an educational institution exists for and only for the students. In this case, safety is involved. Any other priority is wrong or at the very least, suspect.

  • Sharon says:

    Those who are under 25 or those who list their parents’ address as their permanent address or voting residence should check to see if their parents’ home owners’ insurance covers this. Those students who have their own homeowners insurance or apartment insurance and are just in the dormitory to attend classes should also check. It might, especially if the parents’ or the students’ own policy has coverage for water damage as most homeowners’ or renters insurance policies do. When I had a fire in my dormitory room a number of years ago my parents’ insurance policy picked up the cost of the damages.

    • Bruce says:

      Gosh — an actual constructive suggestion. I almost don’t know what to say.

      I don’t remember the details of insurance while living in a dorm — I was blissfully oblivious of most practicalities at that age — but it would make sense that there would (should?) be an insurance option available to dorm-dwellers. No idea if this ever happens, it just seems like a good idea (check the box and pay an extra $100 or whatever).

      In grad school, my apartment was burglarized. My roommate’s father worked in the insurance industry and was able to ascertain that, even though it was an apartment, her losses were still covered under his homeowner’s insurance policy because it was a “temporary” dwelling. I guess it qualified as a sort of dorm, since school was the only reason she was in that city. This was 30 years ago, though, so while it’s possible that students in dorms are still covered by parents’ homeowners’ policies, it seems possible that insurance companies are no longer offering such coverage, or it’s ridiculously expensive. Still, definitely worth checking out.

  • YoYo Mama says:

    Of course Juilliard is responsible. No wonder they are trying to deny responsibility. But why would anyone pay $7900 per semester, when surely that’s enough to pay for living in a luxury hotel and eating in restaurants???

    • Mark Henriksen says:

      You’ve never been to NYC, I guess. Luxury hotel with meals for < $75 a day? One bed in a bunk bed in NYC YMCA starts at $95 a day.

      • Tiredofitall says:

        Absolutely true. I live a block from Juilliard. All the more reason for Polisi et al to face their responsibilities to their students, both those paying full fare and those on scholarship. They are there to study, not to fret about their well-being.

        • Don says:

          They are responsible. The malfuction occurred in the fabric of the building which is always under the control of the owner – not the tenant or other type of current occupant.

  • Old Man in the Midwest says:

    Good thing that the students at Juilliard can’t read that there is a flood on one of the floors of their dorm. Slipped Disc is blocked according to Stormin’ Norman.

    But most of them are from China anyway and there, Internet censorship is the norm so it really doesn’t matter.

  • Cyril Blair says:

    This is completely outrageous. Of course Juilliard should compensate students for the damage. And they should do it immediately so students don’t have to stress about it.

    On the other hand, “I smell like ass” is not something I expect to come out of the mouths of these brilliant talented youngsters. At Arizona State, maybe….

  • Prof. X says:

    What a scandal!
    In musicians circles Juilliard’s reputation is going down more and more, but this is only amazingly embarrassing!
    I feel very sorry for the students there and hope they get not only paid but an official excuse from the board and responsible administration.
    What a great school it was- but now only money counts apparently and no music/musicians. What a shame!
    Shame on you, Juilliard!
    Here in Berlin a semester costs around 300 bucks including public metro card and even here if anything similar would happen you would get reimbursed at least (not totally easily, but still).
    Faculty in Berlin is shocked about the treatment of young students

  • Tiredofitall says:

    It’s fun to shout at the moon here, but better to direct concerns directly to Juilliard’s President, Joseph Polisi. I’m sure he will welcome the feedback.

  • AMetFan says:

    It’s fun to shout at the moon here, but better to direct concerns directly to Juilliard’s President, Joseph Polisi. I’m sure he will welcome the feedback.

  • HRBmus says:

    Juilliard is listed by Forbes magazine as 24th on the list of the top 100 most financially fit colleges. It has an endowment in excess of one BILLION dollars. It has only 580 undergrads. As a contrasting example,Temple University, a state-related institution with 50,000 students across 5 campuses, has an endowment less than half that large – with more than 10x the students. If Juillirad can’t cover the flood damge it is doing something very wrong.

  • Cosentino says:

    Her experiences teaching at Columbia and at Juilliard led her to assume a leadership role at MUSE Academy and create a model program, demonstrating how music and performing arts can accelerate academic development and unleash creative thinking throughout all disciplines.

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