The Evergreen State College Board of Trustees voted Monday to spend up to $1 million to cover costs related to a student’s recent death due to carbon monoxide poisoning and subsequent discoveries about the state of student housing.
The money will be used to cover the cost of a Washington State Patrol investigation into the death of the student, the cost to relocate students into other housing, and to make repairs to campus housing, President John Carmichael said.
The vote allows Carmichael to draw money from a college contingency fund that totals $5.8 million, he told the board.
The college expects to be billed for some or all of the State Patrol’s investigation, Carmichael said.
Carmichael said a contractor needs to be brought to campus to make repairs to student housing, and “that’s going to cost some money.”
Jonathan Rodriguez, 21, of DuPont, died Dec. 11 from exposure to carbon monoxide. Two other students, a 20-year-old woman and a 19-year-old woman, were hospitalized from exposure to the gas, but have since been released, The Olympian reported.
The incident happened in Evergreen’s modular housing. A student residence manager couldn’t reach the three students inside the housing, so an Evergreen police officer entered the unit and ended up attempting to revive the students. The officer was poisoned by carbon monoxide, as well, and was treated at the hospital, according to The Olympian’s initial report.
The police officer did not break down a door to get into the housing, but entered the residence after a student had gone in, the college has learned, spokeswoman Kelly Von Holtz told The Olympian Monday.
The student who let the officer in called for help while the officer tried to revive the students, she said.
Monday’s gathering was the first full meeting of the board since the student’s death.
“On behalf of the board of trustees, I want to offer our deepest condolences to Jonathan’s family and all his friends and fellow students, and send our thoughts to many others who continue to suffer from the tragedy, including those who work in residential and dining services,” board President Karen Fraser said.
Students have created a memorial near the housing where Rodriguez died, she added.
President Carmichael said he was visiting Evergreen alumni on the East Coast on Dec. 11, so he turned to Executive Vice President Dexter Gordon, who provided leadership at the college immediately after the incident.
Gordon shared information about Rodriguez, who joined Evergreen in fall 2022 as a transfer student. He was a senior and likely would have a graduated this year, Gordon said.
“In a short time, he made a significant impact on the faculty and staff as an engaged, caring and positive advocate for making the world a better place,” Gordon said. “He will be missed.”
The modular-style housing where Rodriguez lived was heated by propane. The college, as part of its investigation, tested the six other modular-style units and found they were free of carbon monoxide.
The college also tapped the resources of the Evergreen Foundation and moved all students out of propane-heated housing and into temporary housing, Gordon said.
As soon as the college started its investigation, the State Patrol launched its own and told the college to stop its investigation. The college complied, Gordon said.
Carmichael added that the State Patrol’s findings are expected to be released this month.
Although the college has halted its investigation, it has still moved forward with a room-by-room check of student housing which consists of 14 buildings and 84 apartments that total around 400 bedrooms.
No additional risk from carbon monoxide has been found; however, the backlog of repairs that are needed has grown, Carmichael said.
“It’s really quite huge,” he said, adding that the college has already brought in a contractor to check whether mildew was the more serious toxic black mold — it wasn’t — and to address heating systems that aren’t working well.
Some students are relying on electric space heaters, he said, prompting the need to bring in a heating contractor.
Carmichael said the recent drop in enrollment and the COVID-19 pandemic have contributed to the college not keeping up with housing maintenance.
He said student voices also need to be elevated so that they are “unafraid to name issues and are heard when they do name issues.”
