A male resident at Cumberland College has allegedly used highly reflective bathroom ceilings to watch fellow showering students. “It’s disgusting and taking advantage of an unfortunate design error,” one student told Critic.
Residents at Cumberland College said that they first noticed the bathroom issue just after O-Week this year. “I first heard about this second week in, some of my mates tested the bathroom and saw how reflective it was; I could see the details of my friend’s face. It made you easily identifiable,” one student said.
Allegations of one male resident spying on others started just before the Easter break, residents say. “Rumours started going around about one guy who apparently was looking at people when they were showering. No one knows for certain but this guy was seen in the Head of College office quite a few times, people just thought it was too much of a coincidence.” Another student said the allegations “did make a lot of girls uncomfortable; I know girls have been going to other floors to shower”.
One student told Critic the bathrooms were closed for maintenance at the time of writing, and they saw a box of new ceiling tiles on the bathroom floor prior to their closure. A spokesperson from the University has confirmed that “the College leadership team was made aware of reflectivity on two ceiling panels and this has been rectified by painting and no person’s reflection can be seen inside the shower”.
Two students Critic spoke with praised Cumberland for their quick response with one saying, “I think it’s really awesome that they are changing it; I know lots of people were pretty passionate about this issue and so they are stoked to see quick change.” Another said, “knowing that I’m living in an environment which has so quickly recognised this problem and provided a solution for the wellbeing and privacy of students is a really comforting and reassuring feeling”.
Critic asked the University for comment about the warning the spying student was allegedly issued by the College, but did not receive a response that answered this request.