Newswire photo by Jeff Richardson | Beginning in the fall, students will pay for their laundry through a housing fee each semester instead of using X-Cash to pay per load. The included laundry will not apply to off-campus residences like University Station.
The phrase “free laundry” appeared on several of the Student Government Association (SGA) Executive platforms last fall and inspired Dr. Jude Kiah, vice president of ConneX.
Beginning in the fall, rather than paying with X-Cash in the laundry room, students will pay a housing fee each semester to use washing machines and dryers.
The included laundry will not apply to off-campus residences, such as University Station.
According SGA Vice President Desmond Varner, campus laundry facilities will be renovated so that the university can surpass charges from Cincinnati Coin Laundry, campus’ current washing machine provider.
“At one of our first meetings with Dr. Kiah, he said that he already got the free laundry done,” SGA Vice President Alfredo Mercedes said.
Details are still being worked out by ConneX, Mercedes explained. For example, there are plans to put in checks and balances to avoid abuse by off-campus residents and prevent non-Xavier students from taking advantage of the new program.
ConneX predicts that including laundry costs in housing fees will lead to the machines lasting longer since students won’t feel pressure to overload them to cut costs.
However, some students expressed doubt regarding how beneficial the program will actually be.
“Whereas everyone needs textbooks, I know people who do laundry once every three weeks, as disgusting as that is, and I know people who do it like once a week and two loads,” junior Abby Morton said. “So I think the benefits for that might not be as beneficial for as many people.”
From an environmental standpoint, front-loaded washing machines are more water efficient than traditional top-loaded laundry machines and generally take less time to wash clothing. Kiah added that he does not think that students will use washing machines excessively.
“Students won’t increase their use of laundry just because they no longer have to directly pay for it,” Kiah said. “Nobody washes their clean clothes just because.”
By: Joseph Cotton | Staff Writer