Arthur Krebbers thinks the LSE should clean up it's act... and it's toilets

Restaurants are often judged by the quality of their toilets and general hygiene facilities. If this norm were to apply to universities, I doubt Gordon Ramsey would be very pleased with the LSE. In fact, I’m not sure whether we’d even manage to obtain one single shiny Michelin star.

The criticisms levelled against the school’s non-academic facilities are numerous. The bathrooms are littered with hatemongering and idiotic graffiti, toilets appear infected by a chestnut brown fungus and changing rooms feel like tropical, oxygenless cellars.
Though these issues can easily fade into the background, they are by no means trivial. As a world-class institution, we really ought to improve the quality of our facilities in order to continue to attract the crème de la crème.

The impressions new arrivals have of our campus aren’t limited to the academic sphere. The quality of teaching and research facilities go hand in hand with the appearance of class rooms, toilets and changing rooms. Those engaged in sports or fitness will moan repeatedly about the dire state of the changing rooms. Ditto for the early-morning cyclists. Others will lambaste the hygiene of the water closets or the interior of some of the notorious rooms in the XYZ buildings.

These long- or short-term visitors will transfer their overall picture of the school to peers in their home countries, potentially leading to a renewed surge in applications. If we wish to bring about this virtuous circle, we really should clean up our act.

Finger wagging towards students themselves may be a good start. Not all school facilities are problematic cases: A seasoned undergraduate will have been astonished at the purity of some departmental bathrooms. Most residential halls also appear able to sustain high standards. If we’re able to behave ourselves in our departments and halls, why aren’t we equally vigilant with our general Houghton Street utilities?

This is only part of the story, however. Our campus regularly attracts outsiders, ranging from partygoers at Crush to uninvited, senior Londoners (even some local hobos, so I’m told). The relative openness of our university grounds means our facilities are easy to access. While the majority of ‘guests’ will use them with due care, others will do whatever possible to trash them. School wardens regularly complain about alcohol-induced rampages in bathrooms that tend to occur on Friday nights.

There is no easy panacea to this hydra. The best way forward is through intensive co-operation between the Students’ Union and the LSE Estates division. Problems with individual facilities should be reported swiftly, both by students and staff, and the school should reserve enough funds to enable it to respond quickly and effectively. Only effective communication and prioritisation will help flush this vexed issue down the drain.