SUNY Old Westbury students say mold is making them sick

<p>Students at SUNY Old Westbury say they're dealing with mold issues on campus and some say it has made them sick.</p>

News 12 Staff

Oct 15, 2018, 4:34 PM

Updated 2,251 days ago

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Students at SUNY Old Westbury say they're dealing with mold issues on campus and some say it has made them sick.
Student Diamond Dillon says she is living with mold in her dorm room. She and other students who live in the Woodlands dormitory complex say the mold was already there when they moved in for the fall semester.
"I'm disgusted, I'm appalled, I'm surprised an institution like SUNY Old Westbury has us living in these conditions," Dillon says.
Dillon and her roommate, Alexis Cuff, say the mold was so bad that they both went to the ER with breathing issues.
"When I came back from the hospital, the doctors said I could not sleep in the room anymore because the bedding was covered in the mold," says Cuff.
Several students showed News 12 what appeared to be mold on air conditioning vents, bedding, bags and in bathrooms.
Michael Kinane, a spokesman for SUNY Old Westbury, says the school is addressing the issue. Kinane says only about 45 students out of the 800 that live on campus have been affected.
"We moved commercial dehumidifiers into the buildings. It's cleaned within hours of us hearing about it. Some students in some cases were moved to other rooms," Kinane says.
But Cuff says the school's not doing all it could.
"They say it's gone but it grows back, so they are not cleaning it to the best of their ability," Cuff says. "No one should have to deal with this, no one should have to pay for this."
Students tell News 12 that they have asked the school to reimburse them for items that were affected by mold. SUNY officials say that is under review.