In response to controversy surrounding self-balancing scooters (“hoverboards”), the Office of Residence Life banned hoverboards from campus residences.
“Currently the rule regarding hoverboards is no use within a university owned residence hall or apartment building,” said Mary Janz, Executive Director of Housing and Residence Life, in an email.
While hoverboards are still permitted outside university buildings on campus such as sidewalks, this could change in the future.
“I have been asked to develop a policy for hoverboard use/storage, etc. to begin with the fall semester 2016,” Janz said. “I am in contact with several colleagues at other Jesuit and State institutions. Many schools are moving to prohibiting hoverboards in their buildings.”
A sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, Tishyra Randell said that she thinks the use of hoverboards inside residence halls is unnecessary.
“I haven’t seen any incidents with hoverboards, however it’s a small amount of space to begin with and there is no need for them inside of the residence hall,” Randell said.
Boston College, another Jesuit institution, banned self-balancing scooters on campus entirely. A letter to its students highlighted accidents that have been documented internally. The message included statistics about problems caused by such devices.
“The decision was based upon (Boston College’s) Office of Environmental Health & Safety and the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which cited 28 hoverboard related fires in 19 states and serious injuries to more than 70 riders.”
Many universities have also banned hoverboard use on their campuses until a more thorough investigation by the Consumer Product Safety Commission has been completed.
The CPSC is currently investigating dozens of hoverboard-related fires across the country, as the device’s lithium-ion battery has been cited as a cause for fires while charging and in use. These battery packs and power supplies are certified by the Underwriters Laboratories, but hoverboards themselves are not UL certified by.
Current designs are also being investigated related to falling injuries.
