Students who remain displaced from their dorms in the East Residence Hall will move to apartments at the Harbor Point on the Bay complex for the rest of the semester, the university announced Wednesday.

The apartment complex, which is popular among UMass Boston students, is located on the north side of Mt. Vernon Street, just across the street from the residence halls. Capstone On-Campus Management, the management company that operates UMass Boston’s residence halls, arranged the leases with Corcoran Jennison Management Companies, which operates Harbor Point.

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Students affected by the East Residence Hall closure held a protest the evening of Feb. 16 to demand compensation for out-of-pocket spending during the closure.

The protest was primarily organized by students Mabel Chesnes and Jackson Jezewski through an Instagram group chat. A group of close to twenty students — some displaced and some not — gathered in the Campus Center for a sit-in from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.

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The East Residence Hall’s residential floors reopened to some students on Friday, though most students in the blue corridors will not return for the rest of the semester.

According to an email sent to affected students, those living in the orange and yellow hallways can return immediately, along with blue hallway residents on the 11th and 12th floors, which were unaffected by the flood because they are above the pipe burst on the 10th floor. “Select Blue Corridor rooms near the elevators that are not affected by ongoing construction,” wrote Capstone On-Campus Management, the company that operates the residence halls.

“Active construction areas, where remediation and restoration are underway, are strictly off limits to building residents… Construction walls have been installed in the Blue Zone (floors 2-10) to prevent unauthorized access to these construction areas,” COCM wrote.

COCM sent a separate email to students who cannot return to the building. “Based on the current stage of construction, inspections, and a clearer understanding of timelines for restoration, we have identified that your room is located within a construction zone,” the email said. “Even though your room did not experience any damage and your belongings have not been impacted by this incident, we must inform you that you will not be able to re-occupy your current room and you will soon be provided a new housing assignment for the remainder of the semester.”

Students whose rooms sustained flood damage moved into dorms at Emerson College last weekend. The remaining students have the option to move out Friday or continue storing their belongings in their rooms, according to the email.

Residents who cannot move back in immediately will remain in short-term housing at the Charles River Campus or hotels provided by COCM. “We are actively securing housing for the remainder of the semester,” the email said. the company is also extending stays for students staying in hotels.

In an email sent Thursday evening to East Hall residents, the university said it is “hopeful that by the end of next week we will… Finalize another longer-term housing partner to provide stable, consolidated housing for remaining displaced students.”

“We understand that “hope” is not the same as confirmation. We will provide definitive details as soon as contracts are executed and inspections are complete,” the university wrote. “Our priority remains safety, stability, and minimizing further disruption.”

Isabella Conde contributed reporting.

Students who lived in rooms most impacted by the flood will be relocated to dorms at Emerson College for the remainder of the semester, the university announced Thursday.

Affected students can fill out a request form and will move in to rooms at 80 Boylston St. Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. They will also receive an MBTA pass for transport to and from campus. “While this location is farther from campus than East Residence Hall, we believe it provides a strong residential option that balances proximity and community,” the university wrote in an email to all East Residence Hall students Thursday.

There is no new timeline available for other students to return to the East Residence Hall, but the university wrote it expects to share updates soon. “A small number of remaining safety requirements must be completed and formally approved before we can receive authorization for the next phase of re-occupancy,” the university wrote.

At Emerson, “UMass Boston students will be housed together on a dedicated floor to maintain community connection and peer support,” the university wrote in a separate email to affected students. “UMass Boston Residential Life staff, including peer assistants, will be on site, to provide continuity of support, programming, and community engagement throughout the remainder of the semester.”

An email sent to students and parents Thursday night instructed residents whose rooms sustained flood damage to gather their personal belongings and fully vacate their rooms.

“After continued assessment in coordination with the property operator, Capstone On-Campus Management, and city and state officials, you/your student’s room has been identified as one of approximately 50 rooms with significant flood damage, accordingly your room must be packed up so that remediation and repairs may commence,” the university wrote.

Residents will be able to access their rooms from 12-6 p.m. Friday, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. Students were instructed to “pack and remove all personal belongings,” “inventory personal items” and “assess and document any damage” while in the rooms. The university will provide moving bins, professional laundry services for wet bedding or clothing, and storage options for students who are unable to return home.

According to the email, “Students in these impacted rooms will be relocated to alternative housing for a longer duration while repairs are completed. We are actively working to secure longer-term housing options and expect to share additional details in the coming days.” Currently, many students are being housed at UMass Amherst’s Charles River campus, although some displaced residents found their own accommodations at hotels, on friends’ couches and in common rooms of the West Residence Hall.

Residents received a follow-up email Friday detailing housing and storage options. The university will “provide moving trucks to transport student belongings to nearby short-term storage units,” the email said, adding that administrators are “actively securing housing for the remainder of the semester.” Additionally, the university will offer up to $1,000 in emergency funds to affected students, although no instructions for accessing these funds are currently available.

A separate email to residents of non-damaged rooms Thursday confirmed that “there is not yet a defined timeline for phased re-occupancy” of the building.

“Fire suppression has been restored throughout the building, the emergency generators were successfully tested, and electrical systems performed well in testing, meeting the next layer of milestones. While progress has continued, there still is additional work to be completed before students can return to the residence halls,” the email reads.

The university wrote, “We are committed to sharing developments as soon as they are confirmed. COCM and their remediation teams are currently developing a more detailed restoration timeline, and we expect to share this timeline soon.”

NEWTON — A second petition, which calls for students affected by the flooding in the East Residence Hall to either receive refunds or not be required to pay for housing for February, was created Tuesday.

The Office of Housing and Residential Life sent out an email to affected students Thursday at 11:07 a.m. stating that the on-campus housing bill “has been paused at this time.” A date has not been provided for when the OHRL is expecting payment, but the email does state that students will not incur late fees and that those with a recurring payment plan will still be charged on the withdraw date inputted.

Students in the Residence Halls have the option to opt into a monthly payment plan, meaning they pay a portion of their housing bill every month, usually on the 15th. Some residents have already paid for the year in full or are expecting excess financial aid transfers which will cover the cost of their housing once disbursed.

Since the initial closure of the residence hall Monday, students have had to pay out of pocket for hotel rooms, new clothes, food and hygiene items. Twelfth-floor resident Peighton Jasper wrote on Instagram Feb. 11, “They didn’t even have enough essentials for their own students that were displaced. So I went out and spent my own money on essentials like a change of clothes, toiletries, and some food. And I grabbed my friends and we got another motel room, as at that point it was 7pm and many of us still didn’t have a place to sleep. This situation is utterly ridiculous.” Jasper and another displaced student, Katerina Vatkin, have been helping their fellow residents by collecting donated clothing and toiletries and handing them out to students in need.

In addition to buying new essentials to replace the ones trapped in the dorms, students in the affected rooms have had items damaged or destroyed by flood water. According to tenth-floor resident Sarah Jean-Baptiste, her boots, some clothes, her bedsheets and her rug, along with other items she stored under her bed, were “totally soaked.”

This new petition is currently at 355 signatures. According to the petition’s description, it “aims to bring attention to their [residents’] urgent need for support, whether it’s help with housing, financial aid, or replacing their lost essentials, so they can get back on their feet.”

So far, UMass Boston has made no statement about reimbursing students whose belongings sustained water damage, reimbursing students who spent money on hotels and essentials, or refunding or canceling the housing payment for February. There is also no clear timeline for when students can return to their dorms.

NEWTON — Students affected by the flood in the East Residence Hall have taken to social media with their concerns and disappointment.

Several hundred students have been displaced since a sprinkler pipe burst Monday afternoon. Residents were not allowed to retrieve items from their rooms until Wednesday, and access to the building remains heavily restricted. The university has not excused affected students from classes, but urges “both faculty and students to provide one another with reasonable flexibility.”

The Office of Housing and Residential life sent out two emails to residents Monday. The first, sent at 5:25 p.m. when students were attempting to secure belongings from their dorms, described the initial incident, the building’s closure and steps for students to secure accommodations for the night. The second email, sent at 6:53 p.m., detailed a schedule for shuttles to UMass Amherst’s Charles River campus, where some of the affected students are currently staying.

Eighth-floor resident Katerina Vatkin has been vocal on Instagram about her dissatisfaction with the lack of information provided to students by the university during and after the incident. “There has been a severe lack of communication and a level of unprofessionalism within every department. There is still an ongoing lack of clarity,” she wrote in a post. “I currently as a student have the obligation to attend class and get the best grades I can. This has not only been disrupted but completely changed at its foundation.”

Vatkin is one of several students who have made social media posts calling upon administrators and officials to improve. Seventh-floor resident Astro Jones wrote he was “so incredibly disappointed and upset” with the university’s handling of the situation. Jones was one of the many students without access to necessary medications and mobility aids.

“I’ve had to spend the last money in my account just to keep myself and my cat somewhat comfortable. Is this how you handle crises? Some students slept in the train station, or campus center. Personally, I slept in a conference room,” Jones wrote in an Instagram post Wednesday.

This is not the first time students have questioned UMass Boston’s communication abilities. After the shooting report on Sept. 11, 2025, later debunked by authorities, students also criticized the administration’s lack of transparency. Vatkin mentioned this pattern in one of her posts. “Education for emergency situations and a better communication system needs to be implemented. This was a similar complaint from every student when the fabricated shooting had happened,” she wrote.

Resident Gianni Wilkinson, who is also on the seventh floor, also described administrators’ communication as poor. “The school needs to do better because this isn’t the first time they provided limited information. And then I myself found out most information through Yik Yak and my friends who were still on campus,” she said.

There were also breakdowns in communication between UMass Boston officials and those at the Charles River campus, Vatkin said. “The director of that school … he goes, ‘UMass Boston told us there’s 50 of you coming.’ There’s three to four buses in total,” she said. “My headcount said there was about 45 on our bus alone.”

A petition started by resident Tyler Kinney aims to prevent future communication issues. “Twice in one school year, University of Massachusetts Boston has failed to effectively communicate with students during emergency situations, especially ones happening in the Residence Halls,” the petition states. “Students are still in the dark about what actually happened on September 11th, 2025. Most recently, on February 9th, 2026, the school left students in the dark for hours as to why the East Residence Hall was completely closed.”

“We UMB Students DEMAND that the University adopt clear and time-bound emergency communication protocols. What we’ve learned this year is that ANY communication (even one telling students that the cause of an issue is unclear or unknown) is better than leaving scared students in the dark,” the petition continues.

Kinney recommended that the university collaborate with students to create better protocols for emergency situations. The petition is currently at 490 signatures.

Isabella Conde reported from the Charles River campus. Joshua Levin contributed reporting from UMass Boston.

Residents will again be allowed to retrieve essential items from their rooms Thursday from 12-1:30 p.m. and 3:30-5 p.m., the university stated.

Like Wednesday, they will be escorted through the building by a staff member and limited to 10 minutes. Mail and packages delivered to the dorms will be available for pickup during the same time periods at the building’s main entrance. Administrators have not provided a timeline for reopening.

Shuttles to UMass Amherst’s Charles River campus, where East Hall residents are being temporarily housed, will begin at 6:45 a.m. Thursday, running at the top of each hour for the rest of the day, according to the “Residence Hall Support” webpage.

“We are working to secure additional shuttles to increase the frequency,” the university wrote. “We encourage students utilizing shuttle service to plan accordingly and allow extra time for travel during peak morning hours.”

Displaced residents can request a temporary parking permit by emailing the dean of students’ office with their full name and student ID number. The pass will work until Feb. 20.

The university will also cover the cost of round trips between the Charles River Campus and University Station, a shopping center in Westwood, via Uber for Business. Instructions can be found in the transportation section of the webpage.

Inside the East Residence Hall, flood remediation crews removed wet carpet, cut away the bottom of walls and placed industrial blowers and heaters in spaces affected by the flood, which started in a mechanical closet near the elevators on the 10th floor.

There was no obvious moisture remaining in the hallways on the 9th or 10th floors, which sustained the most damage, as of 5:15 p.m. Wednesday, nor any smell of mold. Two of the building’s three elevators are operational.

The building remains restricted to limited occupancy, with only the first-floor Dining Common approved for normal use, though an emergency exit at the rear of the building is being used as the entrance. Michael Metzger, the assistant vice chancellor for student affairs, said inspectors allowed the university to reopen the Dining Commons because it operates on separate electrical systems and occupies an area of the building that is one-story high, meaning it is not below any area affected by the flood.

The western wing of the building was mostly unaffected by the flood damage, Metzger said, but cannot be reopened on its own because its electrical systems run through the flooded areas. Inspectors must determine the electrical, fire alarm and sprinkler systems are safe before the building can be returned to use. A generator parked on the street east of the building provides supplemental electricity for the drying equipment.

Wednesday afternoon, students were allowed to access the building to retrieve essential items, including medications and electronics. They were required to sign in and out and be escorted by a staff member. The UMass Boston Police Department swept the building to ensure no occupants remained Wednesday evening.

Gallery | 4 Photos

Joshua Levin

The 10th floor hallway of the East Residence Hall on Wednesday, where flood remediation crews removed wet carpet, cut away the bottom of walls and placed industrial blowers and heaters to eliminate moisture.

Lines were moving quickly in the lobby of the East Residence Hall Wednesday afternoon as hundreds of students came to gather items from their dorms for the first time, two days after the building was shuttered due to a broken sprinkler pipe.

Administrators and staff from across the university and officers from the UMass Boston Police Department stood with students in line, passed out trash bags to hold clothes and other belongings and escorted residents to their rooms. Most students had not previously been allowed back into the building, leaving them without clean clothes and other supplies.

Approximately 50 rooms sustained damage as water spread through walls and between floors. Megan Sullivan, the vice chancellor for marketing and engagement, said the university reached out to students in those rooms separately. Administrators are working on ways to help affected students replace damaged items, she said.

Students will be allowed brief access to the East Residence Hall to retrieve property from their rooms from noon to 6 p.m. Wednesday.

“Students will be escorted to their hall and rooms by university staff,” according to the revised Residence Hall Support webpage. Access is limited to one person per room, to their assigned room only, for a maximum of ten minutes. “Students are not moving out during this period… Large items, furniture, or non-essential belongings may not be removed at this time.”

Several hundred students have been displaced without access to their belongings since a sprinkler pipe burst Monday afternoon, causing flooding on the 10th floor and below. The university said it could not allow access to the building until inspectors determined the sprinklers and other life safety systems are operational and electrical systems are free from water damage. “This morning, city and state inspectors confirmed the building has met safety protocols to allow for supervised access periods for students to retrieve essential belongings safely this afternoon,” the university stated.

“Since this pipe burst in frigid temperatures Monday, the university has focused on supporting affected students. All displaced residents were provided with temporary housing options, access to meals, transportation assistance, and direct support through Student Affairs and the Dean of Students’ Office. Students who were unable to access their rooms have also been assisted with essential items,” the statement said.

NEWTON — As residents from the East Residence Hall remain displaced, students have raised concerns about how the building closure affects those with medical needs.

Most students were not permitted to return to their rooms due to the building’s “no occupancy” status, according to a 2:23 p.m. email from the Office of Housing and Residential Life. These students were not able to retrieve essential items such as clothing, hygiene items, food and electronics, as well as their medicine and other necessary medical equipment.

An in-state student who lives on the seventh floor, Gianni Wilkinson, was unable to retrieve anything from her room. Wilkinson is recovering from surgery and is without her medication. She said the process of going back and forth with the OHRL for answers is “really painful and tiring”.

Out-of-state tenth-floor resident Sarah Jean-Baptiste was in her room when she noticed water flooding in. Jean-Baptiste said she immediately evacuated and was unable to go back to retrieve vital medication. She successfully obtained a refill for her medicine from University Health Services and picked it up at a local Star Market grocery store. She said that she called UHS at 617-287-5660 and pressed two twice to get connected with the correct officials. The university directs residents to contact UHS via the “My Health Beacon Portal.”

While most residents on the upper floors, like Jean-Baptiste, were not allowed to return to their rooms, a select few were able to retrieve items from their dorms with a police escort early in the closure. Nobody is currently allowed in the building apart from the Dining Commons, which reopened Wednesday morning.

“I was able to return to my room and was able to grab very little clothes as they were rushing us to grab stuff and leave. Mind you, my roommate has an emotional support animal and if it wasn’t for me, the kitten would be starving as of right now with no litterbox,” ninth-floor resident Christian Echeverry said. Eyewitnesses also observed a student arguing with a UMass Boston Police officer about their service animal, which was trapped in their dorm.

Director of Communications DeWayne Lehman said residence hall staff worked with students who have service animals to retrieve them and provided supplies including food and litter. “The residence hall staff did a sweep of the affected floors for service animals and found none,” Lehman said.

When the notice went out that they were allowing some students to gather essentials from their dorms, residents gathered in the East Hall’s first floor in front of the security desk. Jean-Baptiste said officials were calling students by floor number to be escorted to their rooms.

“Me and my friend were on the line, and they called our floor numbers and every time they called our floor numbers they told us to go right back in the line, acted like they didn’t call our numbers,” she said. “Then they called people who needed their medications and stuff. I went up again, and they also shoved us back into the line, and then by that time it was 5 p.m. and they claimed that they couldn’t let anybody up anymore, and they kicked us all out.”

Do you live or work in the East Residence Call? If you have photos or video from inside the building or are interested in sharing your experience during the closure, we want to hear from you! Contact The Mass Media via email to [email protected] or stop by our newsroom at the back of Campus Center Suite 3000. The Mass Media will continue to cover this story as it develops.

Several hundred students remain displaced by the closure as crews continue to assess and remediate water damage.

“Based on initial assessments, approximately 50 rooms in the blue hallway of floors 2-10 were impacted with varying degrees of water damage,” the university stated Tuesday night.

The burst pipe was in a “secured-entry mechanical room near the elevator lobby” on the 10th floor, according to the university. “The water then traveled across portions of the 10th floor and down into the floors below, traveling through walls, ceilings, stairwells and utility spaces.”

The Dining Commons will reopen Wednesday for regular meal hours while the rest of the East Residence Hall remains closed, the university wrote in a Tuesday night statement. Students must enter through “the back door facing the softball field.”

All other parts of the building will remain closed, including first-floor offices and mailboxes, until inspectors verify that the fire sprinkler system is operational, electrical systems are free of water and evacuation routes are usable. “Allowing access before that point could put our students and staff at risk,” the university stated. “In this case, inspectors have confirmed that the first floor of the East Residence Hall, specifically the Dining Commons Food Service, operates on separate electrical systems from the upper floors and sustained minimal impact.”

“We understand how difficult it is to be without essential items like clothing, laptops, coursework, or medications,” the university stated.

Residents are temporarily housed at UMass Amherst’s Charles River campus in Newton, approximately 8 miles west of UMass Boston. Without traffic, the drive between the two sites can take more than 40 minutes, according to Google Maps.

UMass Amherst acquired the campus in 2018 and has since used it as a “secondary instructional site,” primarily hosting professional training programs, according to the campus’s website. It was known as the Mount Ida campus before it was renamed last month. The 66-acre property was previously home to Mount Ida College, a private school that opened in 1899. It is separate from UMass Amherst’s main campus.

The East Residence Hall will remain closed until further notice, according to a new webpage posted to the university website.

According to the university, the Residence Hall “is expected to remain closed for several days,” and no timeline for partial or full re-opening has been established.

Residents have not been allowed to return to the building or collect their possessions. “We are working closely with the inspection teams to gain approval to allow students to return briefly to their residence hall rooms to gather essential items. We expect to have more information today, and we will communicate promptly once a decision is made,” the university wrote on Tuesday.

Students were relocated Monday night to UMass Amherst’s Mount Ida campus, also called the Charles River campus, and housing will continue to be offered to affected students. “We are actively exploring whether accommodations may be available in locations closer to campus that may be more convenient for impacted students,” the website reads.

Shuttles from Campus Center bring students every hour to Wingate Hall on Mount Ida campus. Service will run from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. According to Google Maps, the drive to Mount Ida is 40 minutes, although this can increase during high-traffic hours. According to the website, the university is “working to secure additional shuttles to increase the frequency.”

While the Dining Commons are closed, the Campus Center Food Court will be accepting meal swipes from students with dining plans. According to an Instagram post on the @umbdining account, meal swipes are valid for entrees Tres Habaneros, Dot’s Deli, Chef’s Table, Sal’s Pizza, and the soup and salad bars. Additionally, meal swipes include one bag of chips, one cookie or brownie, and one cold beverage. Students can also access the dining hall at the Mount Ida campus by presenting their UMass Boston ID card.

Displaced students with immediate needs, including clothing, prescriptions, toiletries, school supplies and other essentials, are encouraged to contact the Dean of Students Office for assistance.

Students living in the East Residence Hall will not be able to return to their dorms Monday night, as the building will remain closed while crews remediate flood damage caused by a burst sprinkler pipe.

“If you have an alternative place to stay off campus, we encourage you to do so. If you need university-provided housing, please contact us by 7PM at [email protected] so we can ensure appropriate accommodations are arranged,” the university wrote in an email to residents.

As the Dining Commons are closed because they are located in the East Residence Hall, dinner will be served in the Campus Center food court from 5-7 p.m. The university will provide shuttle busses to off-campus accommodations from the front of Campus Center.

The university will send details about housing assignments, transportation and food to those affected once plans are finalized later tonight, according to the email. “If you have immediate questions related to medical or prescription needs, please log on to your MyHealthBeacon Portal as soon as possible to put in a request,” the email said.

“We understand that this situation is disruptive, and we truly appreciate your patience and cooperation. Please know that the safety, comfort, and wellbeing of our residential students remain our top priorities,” the university wrote.

The Motley East Residence Hall is closed after a sprinkler pipe on the building’s 10th floor burst, causing floods and requiring the sprinkler system to be disabled.

According to a 2:43 p.m. emergency alert, the building is closed because it cannot be occupied while the fire sprinkler system is disabled. The alert refers residents to support staff in the Clark Athletic Center. Signs posted on the door to the building, which is secured by UMass Boston Police Department officers, notify students that the building is closed and direct them to the West Residence Hall or Campus Center.

“There was no fire in the building, and there is no threat to the UMass Boston community,” the alert said. The burst was discovered at approximately 12 p.m., according to Director of Communications DeWayne Lehman.

The pipe burst also caused flooding throughout the building. “It created significant flooding on the 10th floor, and that water drained down,” Lehman said. “They are still assessing the damages.”

Contractors from Paul Davis Restoration, a flood remediation contractor, arrived at the residence halls at approximately 3 p.m., while some students stood at the door attempting to get in.

Administrators are working with the Boston Fire Department, Boston Inspectional Services Department, UMBPD and Capstone On‐Campus Management, the management company that operates the residence halls, to determine how quickly part or all of the building can be reopened.

Lehman said the university is making plans in case some students cannot return to their rooms tonight. “Right now, Student Affairs and staff at the residence halls are looking into … housing affected students off campus,” he said. If students are housed off site, they will most likely be allowed to retrieve their property under a BFD-approved fire watch.