Multiple students residing in the Netherlands Residence Halls have spotted rodents in their living spaces. // Photo courtesy of Jade He.

Visitors may not have been permitted inside residence halls during the spring 2021 semester, but that was not the case for some students residing in the Netherlands Hall.  

Various buildings on the north side encountered rodent problems, including the Hague, Delft and Groningen houses in the Netherlands. 

The Hofstra Chronicle spoke to 50 different students residing in the Netherlands on Friday, May 7, and asked them to describe their knowledge of the rodent infestation. Out of the 50 students surveyed, 11 indicated that they had seen at least one mouse in their room or suite at some point.  

Some students in Delft had as many as 11 mice in their suite alone, according to Elisabeth Ford, a freshman journalism major.  

“At two in the morning, I was up to go to the bathroom and all of a sudden I see a mouse scurry from under the sink,” said Ford, “and then it was going back and forth because it couldn’t crawl under the door.” 

Students have also spotted mice on the second floor of Delft, according to Ford’s suitemate Jade He, a freshman video and television major.  

Some students have even experienced mice-induced property destruction. 

“One of my suitemates had their towels destroyed by [mouse] droppings. Also, there were times late at night when we would hear scratching noises,” said Kiera O’Sullivan, a freshman philosophy major, residing in Hague. “There were times when we called public safety about the mice situation and they gave us traps. We caught multiple mice and had to call public safety to remove them, as well.” 

According to O’Sullivan, her suite had a competition with another suite to see who could catch more mice. Her suite caught five in total.  

Although students are not pleased with the unexpected guests, some do believe that the school’s response was satisfactory.  

“Our experience in general, it really sucks and it’s gross, but the Resident Director Sam lives in our building and he’s been so fantastic,” He said. “He offered for us to move into a different building because no one knows why we have so many [mice] … He always comes to our rescue.” 

In response to the rodent issue, the University called an exterminator. They have a contract with Assured Environments, according to Dom Lavin, the director of campus operations.  

“We use an integrated pest management approach, which means that they use the least chemical oriented type of approach first,” Lavin said. “The exterminator carries a little bit of steel wool to close a … [possible entry point] up … Inside the rooms, they would only lay mechanical traps so you would see something like a snap trap or perhaps a glue trap.” 

Even with the response from the school, some students voiced concerns about the traps they were offered.  

“We had to call the exterminators to come and put in traps. That was a little upsetting because they are the traps that kill them, so I would be up at night wondering if I was going to hear the mouse squealing,” said Alivia McGarry, a freshman video television and film major who lives in Groningen. “That definitely made me lose some sleep.” 

The problem surfaced in February 2021 and has since been rectified, according to Lavin. Both him and Ford said they have not seen a mouse in their dorm since April.  

Colin Sullivan, Hofstra’s Director of Communications, recommends that any residential student facing this issue contact their resident assistant, resident director or submit a work order through the Hofstra portal at my.hofstra.edu.