A video sent to The News the afternoon of Sept. 18 shows a rodent crawling across a ceiling beam in Northeastern’s International Village dining hall above one of the food stations.
Giovanna Calicchio, a second-year criminology and criminal justice combined major, and a friend were eating lunch in International Village, or IV, at around 3:30 p.m. Sept. 18 when the two spotted a rodent above the Mezze Table. The friend, who declined to speak to a reporter but confirmed they had shot the video, filmed the rodent crawling on the ceiling beam. The video was then sent to The News.
“One of the workers realized there was a mouse, and she screamed,” Calicchio said. “And then, another one of the [dining hall] workers told her to be quiet. … That felt weird. … That kind of stuck with me.”
Calicchio said this was the first rodent she has seen around campus.
“Northeastern has an extensive and multifaceted program to maintain clean and healthy environments where food is served and stored,” said Dan Sorro, director of global media relations, in an email to The News Thursday. “We are committed to ensuring the highest standards of excellence, including regular internal and third-party inspections. Even the best cleanliness programs are not a 100% guarantee against the occasional unwanted visitor in the dining halls.”
A dining hall employee at the same station where the mouse was spotted said Thursday morning they were unaware of the incident captured in the video but were not at work Sept. 18.
According to the Boston Rodent Action Plan written by Robert Corrigan, who holds a doctorate in entomology and is an urban rodentologist, Boston’s old infrastructure play a major role in the prevalence of rats inside buildings in the city. Another factor is the “intertwining alleyways and old sewer systems, along with century-old cobble or brick streets and sidewalks,” according to the city of Boston.
Some of Northeastern’s oldest buildings were built as early as 1899, possibly contributing to the prevalence of rodents in buildings. IV, however, was built in 2008, according to city records.
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