Updates on W20 and addressing student concerns

February 9, 2023

Suzy M. Nelson, Vice Chancellor and Dean for Student Life | Joe Higgins, Vice President for Campus Services and Stewardship |

TL;DR: Work to assess the feasibility of reopening W20 is ongoing; food trucks on site every weekday through 2/14; staff are focusing on food/dining, spaces for student work/relaxation, and events; more on USPS and packages, building access, color printing; check the Student Life website for the latest.

Dear students,

This is not the spring semester opening that we had hoped for! We are grateful to the many students and community members who sent questions and messages of support after weather-related flooding took the Stratton Student Center (W20) offline. Over the past few days, we heard concerns from students about a wide range of topics. We are writing to respond to those issues, which are most likely on the minds of many students and are the focus of staff working to manage the complex and evolving situation in W20.

Current Status

Teams from the Department of Facilities, the Division of Student Life (DSL), Environment, Health, and Safety (EHS), and more have been working hard to assess the damage and to make contingency plans. The results of damage surveys and air-quality testing will be central to our discussions about when parts of the building could reopen for limited hours or essential services.

We expect to know more about the damage next week and will share another update. In the meantime, please check the Student Life website for ongoing developments.

While damage to W20 has presented us with unfortunate circumstances, there has been an outpouring of support from all corners of the campus. Also, this building is slated for renovation beginning in April 2023, and plans were already underway for W20 to go offline. We are escalating efforts to mitigate the impact on students and the community by providing alternate food and dining arrangements, programming spaces, and touch-down study spaces in addition to working with student organizations to support their needs.

Food and Dining

The availability of food and groceries is foremost in our minds. We know how much students rely on W20 for meals, groceries, and snacks throughout the day, and we are happy to report that we have made some headway. First, MIT Dining has arranged to have food trucks on campus each weekday through Tuesday, February 14. Here’s the schedule (all hours 11:00 am - 2:30 pm unless otherwise noted; schedule subject to change):

2/10 - Boston Coffee Rescue (7:30 - 10:30 am) and Bibim Box
2/13 - Bibim Box and Naco Taco
2/14 - Bibim Box and Naco Taco

Also, our dining partner Bon Appetit is increasing grab-and-go options at Bosworth’s in Lobby 7 and in the Forbes Family Cafe in the Stata Center.

To make it easier to get groceries, the Parking & Transportation Office added a Friday grocery shuttle to their regular Sunday/Wednesday schedule starting February 17. Grocery shuttles run from 11 am to 4:30 pm. Consult the grocery shuttles website for details and route updates.

And please remember, food security is always an important consideration. Visit the DoingWell website for additional food resources, and check out the MIT food and grocery map for more local dining and shopping options.

Social, Study, and Relaxation Spaces

Colleagues in the Registrar’s Office, DSL, and other DLCs are working to identify potential spaces that can be repurposed for impromptu student gatherings across campus. As always, space is at a premium on campus, but staff involved in response planning understand the importance of these spaces to you.

Events

The teams from Student Organizations, Leadership, and Engagement (SOLE) and the Campus Activities Complex (CAC) are working with event hosts to relocate or postpone events that were scheduled for spaces in W20.

More Updates

Post Office and Packages: As they did during the pandemic, USPS redirected mail from the W20 branch to the post office at 770 Massachusetts Avenue in Central Square. Post-box holders’ mail is available there now. Additionally, package deliveries to W20 have been rerouted to Mail Services at 350 Brookline Street (WW15).

Student Group Access: If your group is tagged in Engage as "shared storage/office access," you can request access to your space to gather materials through Sunday, February 12, by completing this form: https://cglink.me/2cy/s319

Color Printer Access: Staff are working with Copytech and IS&T to relocate the color printer in W20’s lobby. Options are available, though, so please consult this list of campus printers to find another nearby.

Thank You

We really appreciate your patience as plans come together. We also want to recognize the hard work of staff from Facilities, DSL, EHS, and offices across MIT who are responding to this emergency. They have done extraordinary work in a very short time, and we are deeply grateful for their diligence, care, and speed.

Best,
Suzy Nelson and Joe Higgins