Students may have seen changes to their weekly laundry routine at the beginning of the 2024 fall semester. On July 16, students received an email from Housing & Residence Life stating, “The laundry payment system converted from accepting coins to only accepting Berg Bucks and credit or debit cards. This new system will allow students to also monitor which machines are available for use and when their wash or dry cycles have completed.”
Ashley Sardik, assistant dean of students and director of the residential experience, explained the timeline leading up to the email and the changes brought with it. “[In] fall 2023 we began seeing a significant increase in maintenance calls for the existing units and began to discuss the process for the end of the contract in 2025. In spring 2024 we spoke with the vendor and they were willing to extend the contract, upgrade the equipment and roll out the app for payment and tracking. Over the summer they confirmed that they would be able to do the upgrade before students returned for the fall 2024 semester. We worked with campus partners to determine the timeline for the upgrade over the summer, communicated it to students who were on campus… and sent a broader campus announcement to all students in Housing & Residence Life’s move-in correspondences.”
Thus, new laundry machines and the Speed Queen application were introduced to ‘Berg residence halls. The replacement was mainly prompted by the old existing machines and their lack of reliability. “Two-thirds of the equipment was six to seven years old, the remaining third were more than ten years old,” Sardik said. “This led to service outages and was becoming very inconvenient for students. The laundry vendor offered to replace the machines if we upgraded to the new system and extended our contract. In upgrading the system, we felt that we would be able to offer a better experience to students because of the app and the new machines.”
Students generally have mixed feelings about the new system and the potential complications it brings into their weekly routines. Village resident Dani Hadge ‘26 shared her liking to some of the new features, saying, “The app has definitely been more reliable for me than swiping your ID because sometimes I would try to reload my account with money (Berg Bucks) and it wouldn’t go through which was super frustrating.”
“In upgrading the system, we felt that we would be able to offer a better experience to students because of the app and the new machines.”
Angela Aquilio ‘25, an East Hall resident, said, “As a senior, I’ve been used to swiping my card for laundry for the past three years and it’s such a hassle to have to use an app now. The app has actually gone down before and I couldn’t dry my laundry so I had to take my wet clothes back to my room until it worked again. I like the old system better when you could just swipe your ID and boom, you’re done. The new machines are nice but the way it’s being conducted is not good.”
“I live in Roberston [Hall] where there’s only like two washers and dryers for the entire building so they’re always in use. But I will say, it’s nice to have the app to see if the machines are in use or not without having to go check them,” an anonymous student said.
In addition to these changes, the price of one cycle for the machines saw an increase from $1.50 to $1.75. The price of laundry has historically been a hot topic at the College, specifically the idea of free laundry for students. After these recent changes, free laundry seems to be a long way away from becoming a reality. “The transition was part of the [cost] increase, [and] in addition, there had not been an increase in the price per load for laundry in over 10 years,” Sardik shared. “The new equipment is part of the contract, so there is not a separate cost for the machines. The laundry payments from individual usage offset the cost of the machines, the app, the installation and the ongoing maintenance.”
“The money aspect of laundry has been here the whole time, which is annoying. I know some of my friends at other colleges don’t have to pay for their laundry at all,” said Hadge.
The laundry system revamp was in the works for quite some time, especially when considering the College’s contract with the vendor. “We have had this laundry contract since 2017, and it was set for renewal in 2025,” Sardik explained. “Although we did not have to renew the contract this summer, previous machines were experiencing significant maintenance issues.”
Students can be sure to say goodbye to using quarters for their laundry, and whether they love it or hate it, it seems as though Speed Queen is here to stay for the foreseeable future.
Matthew '25 is a double major in Biology and French & Francophone Studies. When he's not in class or writing for the Weekly, he is usually swimming, playing volleyball, listening to brat or rewatching all the Hunger Games movies.
