The Quad, while brand new, had major flaws. Sydney Rose/The Cougar

The 2020-21 school year opened with a brand new dorm on campus: The Quad.

The Quad was brand new, having tons of amenities like gyms and kitchens. It was also in a desirable location on campus: in between both dining halls. Residents expected the best of the best but instead found bad shower curtains, a confusing laundry system and more.

The Quad, it turns out, was a disappointment.

One thing that bothered residents were the shower curtains first provided to them. 

“The shower curtains were way too short and were causing water puddling and leaks on the floors below” Hotel and Restaurant senior Catherine Campbell said. “We had water coming out of our light fixture from the room above because of the shower issue, and it was never resolved.”

Campbell also said “some people never received trash cans” and that “even with campus approved command strips, the paint chipped like crazy.” Normally, paint chipping isn’t a big deal, but Housing threatens to charge people for wall damage. 

Residents pay top dollar to live on campus. This goes especially for The Quad, which is one of the more expensive dorms at UH. Yet, they still found cheap paint, a lack of trash cans, and water damage from the provided shower curtains. The list of complaints about The Quad goes on.

“The ‘gym’ they have is awful. It’s got two types of machines and no weights.” Biomedical senior  Kelly Graham said.

Another issue she had was “the weird system they implemented for the laundry.” What Graham is referring to is an app that residents were forced to use called CSCPay Mobile. Residents would have to start the laundry machines from their phones and pay for each wash. The strange thing was that the app provided students with money to spend on laundry. So what was the point of making them use the app? It’s just an extra step that doesn’t benefit students or UH. 

Another thing that residents discovered upon moving in was a strange use of space. 

“The shower space is small compared to the big room that it is in” Media production junior Deztiny Wallace says. Both the toilet room and shower room were quite large compared to the space for the toilet and showering. On top of that, there was no storage closet like one might find in Cougar Place, even though there was clearly the space for it.”

It wasn’t all bad of course. Residents liked the courtyard with hammocks, the location, full-size beds and spacious study rooms. Residents like Wallace also appreciated the mail locker system that allowed residents to get their mail at any time. 

However, there were still major issues with The Quad that may have residents questioning if it’s worth the hype or price. 

Overall, The Quad was disappointing. With its price and hype, residents expected more. Hopefully UH Housing will improve on-campus housing in the future. 

Anna Baker is an English senior who can be reached at opinion@thedailycougar.com

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“The Quad was never worth its hype, price” was originally posted on The Cougar