When students move into college, they are often thrust into independent living for the first time in their lives. Depending on where they live, students may be cooking their own meals or cleaning their own bathrooms. But all students, regardless of residence hall, are all responsible for one key aspect of solo living—doing their own laundry.
As stated in the instructional photos pasted to every washing machine on Muhlenberg’s campus, there are four steps in doing laundry here: load clothes, add detergent, select cycle and pay. Payment, which is typically in the form of coins or a ‘Berg Bucks swipe on a student’s ID, could be on the brink of a change. According to a Student Government Association meeting on Sept. 22, the College is working to switch to an exclusively ‘Berg Bucks system of payment. Such a move would create a more accessible laundry experience; ‘Berg Bucks are multi-purpose and save students the hassle of searching for $3 in coins each time they do laundry.
“After having lived in the M.I.L.E. [Muhlenberg Independent Living Experience] area my junior and now my senior year, using quarters for laundry has definitely been an inconvenience. Switching to ‘Berg Bucks and being able to swipe my ID would definitely make paying for laundry more convenient,” said Emily Burns ‘22.
While the major on-campus residential buildings (Walz, Prosser, Brown, Taylor, Martin Luther (ML), East, Benfer, 2201 Chew, Village) provide students with the choice to pay in either coins or ‘Berg Bucks, M.I.L.E. properties do not. Students living in the M.I.L.E. area need to travel to one of five M.I.L.E. facilities to do their laundry and all of them are coin only.
“After having lived in the M.I.L.E. [Muhlenberg Independent Living Experience] area my junior and now my senior year, using quarters for laundry has definitely been an inconvenience. Switching to ‘Berg Bucks and being able to swipe my ID would definitely make paying for laundry more convenient”
Some students have decided to use off-campus laundromat services in order to save the time and money that goes towards the laundry facilities in the M.I.L.E. area.
“While living in the M.I.L.E. area, needing to get in my car and go over a block away to do laundry and needing to bring $3 in quarters has become too much of a hassle. Instead, this semester I have opted to go every couple of weeks to the laundromat off campus where not only are the machines larger, but it’s less expensive as well,” said Burns.
“Definitely pushing it to ‘Berg Bucks expands [accessibility]… especially because it’s not like these machines can take dollar bills or something like that… Will there be challenges or barriers or things that we need to look at once this happens? Absolutely. There is no plan that is ever perfect. But, if we want to make it more accessible, if we want to take a step further, I think one of the first steps is getting away from the quarters,” said Student Government Association President Zaire Carter ‘22.
Talk of a potential switch to an exclusively ‘Berg Bucks-run laundry system raises questions about the general accessibility of laundry on campus. Several residential buildings—Benfer, Brown, Prosser and Walz Halls, as well as the M.I.L.E. area—have laundry facilities that are inaccessible to residents who cannot utilize stairs.
“We work with students with documented disabilities and [the Office of Disability Services] to individually meet any necessary accommodations for laundry service,” said Assistant Dean of Students and Director of Housing & Residence Life Courtney Stephens.
One such accommodation is a weekly outside laundry service. Once a week, a member from Housing and Residence Life picks up laundry from qualifying residents, sends it out to be washed and folded and then the laundry is returned to residents’ doors two days later.
“We work with students with documented disabilities and [the Office of Disability Services] to individually meet any necessary accommodations for laundry service”
“Having to use an outside laundry service does take away some of that personal independence and requires you to rely on others, which can be frustrating. I am glad that this service is provided, and the outside facility folds the clothes much better than I could ever do, yet sometimes it would be helpful to have a fully accessible laundry room that is less difficult for people with physical disabilities to use,” said an anonymous student. “Navigating a room with a mobility device can be difficult, and though something is technically accessible, there are a lot of other small factors to keep in mind, such as being able to open the door to the laundry room, being able to move around easily within the laundry space, being able to open the machine doors and then reach in and pull out the clothes. A lot of times, fatigue can play a big factor in completing daily tasks for people with disabilities, and in order to make these facilities truly accessible, many more of these smaller factors should be kept in mind.”
Accessibility is something that Muhlenberg will continuously need to evolve with. For now, the universal ‘Berg Bucks laundry payment is a start.
