‘Baffling’ Winthrop Dining Hall Odor Persists

Winthrop House management undertook an extensive effort over winter break to sniff out the source of a years-long odor permeating the dining hall — but when students returned, so did the smell.

Though a response team went to lengths to locate the cause of the notorious scent — inspecting the ventilation system, sealing the basement crawl space, and enacting a smoke test on the plumbing — their effort’s results were still inconclusive.

“While our interventions showed promise of resolution (no smell during break), it seems that now that the house is fully occupied again, the odor issue has returned,” Nancy Hodge, Associate Director of Residential Facilities for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, wrote in a Thursday email to all Winthrop residents.

Winthrop’s odor issues trace back to the 1970s, when a sewer system stoppage resulted in a pungent predicament. Complaints of the smell have only grown since then.

“I have been here for a little over three years and during that time the order in the Winthrop House DH has been one of our most challenging facilities issues,” Hodge wrote in the House-wide email.

The odor response team will proceed with a review of “all ventilation features” and “additional camera work to the city main sewer connection,” according to Hodge. College spokesperson Jonathan Palumbo declined to comment on the anticipated timeline for the odor review.

“We want our Winthrop House residents to know that we have done extensive work to address the issue and will continue to do so until resolved,” Hodge wrote in an email to The Crimson.

But as the situation remains unresolved, Winthrop residents are left to cope with the persistent odor in their House dining hall.

Bank E. O. Ayeketi-Daniel ’25 described the smell as a “nebulous, unexpected thing you have to get used to,” though he said it also smells of “sewage, and then sometimes there’s odors of veggies and fruit.”

Students were split on whether or not Winthrop’s efforts to improve the stench were effective.

“It is baffling, it’s constant, and yet there seems to be no solution,” Ayeketi-Daniel said. “I will not miss the odors of Winthrop once I have graduated.”

Emily Ruiz ’25 said she noticed lavender air fresheners placed around the dining hall last spring, but added that they were not effective in resolving the issue.

“I don’t think it’s enough. This problem has been persisting for years,” Ruiz said. “They definitely need to invest more.”

In response to a request for comment, Palumbo wrote that “this is ongoing work,” adding that Hodge provided “as much detail as is available” in her email to the House.

Some students said that the odor had recently diminished thanks to mitigation efforts, adopting other, nicer fragrances in its stead.

Winthrop “smells very fresh right now,” Joanna O. Osaghae-Nosa ’27 said. “I don’t know what they’ve done specifically, but I hope they keep doing it because it’s working.”

“I’m a senior in Winthrop and I can remember coming as a sophomore and thinking that the smell was really bad at some points,” Jose M. Rivera ’25 said. “I do think that they’ve sprayed some cologne or something along those lines, and it has improved.”

While Jason M.C. Rodrigues ’27 acknowledged the smell, he said that “you just get nose-blind to it eventually.”

Some students even said they did not detect any odor whatsoever — like Irati Evworo Diez ’25-’26, who calls herself a “Winthrop smell denier.”

“I’m from Spain, and I grew up in France,” Diez said. “My palate was developed on French cheeses, including Muenster, so perhaps I’m just not sensitive to pungent odors in the way others are.”

While Diez once “caught a whiff” of an odor, she said that she primarily “feels like a flat Earther in a world of round Earthers.”

Despite the widespread disagreement, several students expressed gratitude for the efforts being made to rectify the smell.

“I’m just happy they’re trying to make a change,” Cael J. Berg ’25 said.

“They seem to be putting a lot of time and resources toward fixing it, so I appreciate that,” Berg added. “I honestly didn’t expect them to respond to this request that people were making.”

While several Winthrop residents said the stench has become fodder for roasts from students in other Houses, they said it did not diminish their House pride.

Diez said that having to persuade friends to have meals with her in the Winthrop dining hall has “reinforced this blind faith attitude towards House life and House community.”

“I think that is what you need in order to be a healthy citizen of the lion’s den,” she added.

Some even called the odor a unifying force within the House.

“I think we all bond through common struggle,” Ishan Tiwari ’25-’26 said.

—Staff writer Hiral M. Chavre can be reached at hiral.chavre@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @h_chavre.

—Staff writer Darcy G Lin can be reached at darcy.lin@thecrimson.com.