Videos: See damage to Cal Poly dorms after St. Patrick’s Day partying trashes campus
Smashed ceiling tiles, a heavy haze of dust and clumps of hair littering the ground were just some of the scenes captured on video by Cal Poly students whose dorms were largely trashed during an annual St. Patrick’s Day celebration known as St. Fratty’s Day.
In a letter to the campus community on Saturday evening, Cal Poly President Jeffrey Armstrong said he was “disappointed and disgusted” by the behavior that left several residence halls on campus damaged earlier that day.
Muir Hall had “damage so extensive that university officials were forced to temporarily close the building and evacuate about 300 student residents in order to repair and restore fire suppression and alarm systems, clean up destruction and debris from smashed ceiling tiles and marred floors and provide deep cleaning and air quality restoration throughout,” Armstrong wrote.
Similar but less severe damage was reported in Trinity and Fremont halls, as well as the newer yakʔitʸutʸu residence halls, and campus dining facilities and markets “reported widespread theft during the morning hours Saturday,” Armstrong said.
Details on the specifics of how the damage occurred are still sparse.
As of Monday, a university spokesperson said the college would not be releasing additional details at that time.
Meanwhile, videos shared on TikTok in the aftermath of the event show chaotic scenes of destruction, from shattered tiles and garbage left in common areas to clumps of hair on the ground, green smudges on walls and flashing hallway lights.
“Eww it smells so bad in here,” a person says in the background of one of the videos showing the damage.
That video shows exposed pipes in the ceiling where tiles were knocked down, as well as pizza and other food ground into the carpet.
Have photos or video of the damage at the dorms? Email them to reporter Kaytlyn Leslie at kleslie@thetribunenews.com.
This story was originally published March 19, 2024 at 3:19 PM.
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