Views expressed in opinion columns are the author’s own.

Imagine you, a University of Maryland student living in a dorm, set a specific time and day to do your laundry. You check the CSC GO laundry app to see which units are available and head down to the laundry room, only to find tons of other students waiting. You’re stuck in line, your schedule is disrupted and not much can be done to change the overcrowding. 

As a freshman living on campus, I was left scrambling my first semester and at times had to wash my clothes past midnight. In North Campus dorms, such as Easton Hall in the Denton Community, there are only a few washers and dryers available for more than 500 residents. North Campus is located about 1.4 miles away from the nearest laundromat — a drain on time and money for the many first and second year students who live in campus dorms and rely on walking or public transportation. Laundry costs are included as a part of student housing fees, making it a more feasible option for North Campus students. The number of students living in dorms is disproportionate compared to the washing and drying units. This often leads to stress among students, disrupting their daily schedules and leading to time wasted waiting for the next available machine. 

This university and the RHA should better support its residents by investing in properly functioning machines to reduce the long waiting times and stress on the individual  machines. In addition, it should invest in high-tech recent models of washing and drying units, which would ease the problem of heavier loads causing the machines to break. 

Modern washing machines are designed to handle larger loads more efficiently, leading to fewer malfunctioning laundry units after repeated use and potentially cutting down on wait times. For this reason, existing laundry units should be replaced with newer machines. Brown University in 2022 replaced its old units with new Speed Queen washers and dryers, machines with features that streamline maintenance communication and water temperature control. This university should take similar action. To implement laundry improvements, this university should use funds from its auxiliary budget and set aside a portion to replace all washing and drying machines in the older dorms that do not have washers and dryers on every floor.

Installing new machines will require an abundance of effort and time. Because some dorms in North Campus are more than 60 years old, installing machines over the summer is ideal, because minimal students would be affected. 

When there is a lack of access to available washing and drying units, the stress and confusion only increases for students, many of whom are freshman becoming acclimated to college life. Long laundry wait times that force students to use the units at odd hours can interrupt studying, club meetings or relaxing with friends. While this university has made improvements, such as switching from payments per load to an unlimited model rolled into student housing costs and using an app that notifies students about empty washing and drying units, more needs to be done to improve the quality of the machines themselves. For students to have a smooth dorm experience, all aspects, including the laundry experience, must be on par and up-to-date to save time and reduce stress among students.

Rishab Sai is a freshman public health practice major. He can be reached at rsai1@terpmail.umd.edu.