On Thursday night, residents in Loughran Hall awoke to a strange smell entering the building.

Initial rumors swirled, suggesting the smell was caused by a gas leak; however, according Director of Buildings and Grounds Wendy Yankelitis, the smell was of smoke coming from an area off campus.

“There was not a gas smell in Loughran. It was a smoke smell,” said Yankelitis. “There was a smoke smell outside the building that worked its way into the building.”

According to Yankelitis, Loughran Hall’s 24/7 smoke detector system did not activate and smoke did not enter the building.

Freshmen Medical Laboratory Science Major and Loughran Hall resident Natalie Zeglen said she exited the building as soon as her roommate woke her up to notify her of the smell.

“I immediately noticed a strong smell that I couldn’t quite place,” said Zeglen. “The air was so heavy to breath and just felt wrong.”

Zeglen said she wishes more directions would have been given to the residents sooner.

“As of now, I’m still confused on what actually happened,” said Zeglen.

According to Loughran Hall Resident Director Joseph Pechulis, there are detectors in the building that would alert residents if there were any dangerous gases present in the air. If this were to happen, residents would be evacuated from the building.

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