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Jacob Rice

Trevor Deering and Justin Fallon, both freshman in mechanical engineering, sit next to the fans in their dorm window in Roberts Residence Hall, Aug. 26, 2024.

As Iowa State students and faculty began classes Monday, they were met with an excessive heat warning and heat index values reaching 113 degrees. For students like Justin Fallon and Trevor Deering, who live in residence halls without air conditioning, the high heat and humidity was “miserable.” 

Fallon and Deering are both freshmen in mechanical engineering and roommates in Roberts Hall. They have been attempting to escape the heat since move-in. 

“I’ve been trying to avoid going back to my dorm like as long as possible,” Fallon said. “It’s just cooler outside.”

Fallon also said he and his friends have gone to other buildings, like UDCC, to find air conditioning. 

“Last night… we sat in like west side market for like an hour when it was closed just because it was miserable outside,” Fallon said. 

Deering said the pair have had their fans running in the dorm, “24/7” since moving in.

Department of Residence response to heat

Jacob Halverson, a sophomore in mechanical engineering and a residence assistant in Wallace Hall, shared his concerns about how the heat is affecting his residents. 

“We’ve had a few [residents] coming to us overheating or struggling with keeping cool,” Halverson said.

In response to the excessive heat, Halverson said the DOR loaned box fans to residence halls for RA’s to provide to their residents. He said there were enough fans to distribute one to every four residents. 

“We’re not given enough to hand one to every person,” Halverson said. “The weather and climate is not something that we can control, and it should not be something that we’re neglecting.”

Halverson also told the Daily that the DOR has told RA’s to ask residents to remove “personal A/C units” from their rooms due to a risk of fire and excessive power usage. 

“We’re urged to kind of ask them to take those down, which is hard, especially with the heat,” Halverson said.

Halverson recalled his experience with extreme heat as a freshman in 2023 after a week of high temperatures and a fire at the power plant which temporarily moved classes online. 

“Especially with last year, I know there were people really really getting sick because it was in the hundreds for days,” Halverson said. “[DOR] should’ve done a lot more.” 

Halverson also shared some tips for students who are struggling with the heat.

“Make sure you’re taking care of yourself and focusing on water intake,” Halverson said. “It’s very easy to lose track of it and get dehydrated.”