LSU has required incoming freshmen to live on campus since fall 2018. However, many Laville Hall residents were unaware that ants get to live in the same dorm free of cost.
Since the beginning of last semester, Laville residents have been noticing the unwanted guests in their rooms. Some have resorted to creative methods to eliminate the pests.
Biochemistry freshman Farrell Chatelain, who lives in West Laville Hall, noticed that ants were frequently finding a way into his room. Chatelain linked the issue to the many ant piles surrounding the stairwells and entrances of the building.
“On the bottoms of the windowsills, there is a wood molding,” Chatelain said. “When the building moves over time, the seal of the window shifts and breaks, giving the ants a perfect entryway into the dorms.”
Chatelain contacted Res Life about the problem but said the help provided wasn’t enough to stop the ants.
“My mom called and told the staff about the ants. After that, a woman came to my dorm and handed me a bottle of ant poison,” Chatelain said. “That was the solution.”
Chatelain then took matters into his own hands, as he was confident that he knew the solution to keep the ants out for good. The first thought was to buy caulking to seal his windows in order to prevent the ants from coming in.
“I had to buy caulking to seal the windows so that the ants would stop coming into my room,” Chatelain said. “I then went to Home Depot and bought ant poison.”
When biological engineering freshman Sydney Corbin, also a resident of West Laville Hall, put in a work order regarding ants in her dorm room, she received a much different solution than Chatelain’s with longer-lasting results.
“It took a couple of days for the people [completing the work order] to actually get to our room, but the ants have not come back since,” Corbin said.
Mechanical engineering freshman William Braham lives on the third floor of West Laville Hall. Braham also noticed ants coming into his dorm through the unsealed windows but did not know why.
“It was odd because we had no food laid out anywhere in our room,” Braham said. “All of our food was sealed.”
Associate Director of Communications & Development Catherine David said students are encouraged to submit a work order for situations like this so the staff can investigate where the ant problem is coming from.
“We do quarterly pest control on our facilities, but we also have our pest control partners on hand as well if we need them to come in and spray a particular room or area,” David said. “Our team will enter the space where the report is made and look for ants, signs of ants, possible entry points and things that attract ants such as crumbs, food and trash so that it can be treated.”
David said if the staff does not know about the problem, they cannot fix the problem. Work orders can be submitted at the front desk, through students’ residence life coordinator or through the MyLSU housing portal.