Some questions demand answers. Others just linger in the back of your mind until one day, you open the student newspaper and realize someone cared enough to find the answer.
Yes, several academic buildings — most notably the Rockwell Integrated Sciences Center and William E. Simon Center for Economics and Business — have showers. No, not the lab shower stations, and no, your professors don’t secretly live in their offices.
The real reason the showers are there is deceptively simple: bicycles.
According to Scott Kennedy, the college’s facilities director, the showers in RISC and the Simon Center were installed to help the buildings achieve LEED certification, a widely used green building rating system that requires a certain number of credits. Installing a shower room in a building, alongside bicycle storage, contributes towards a LEED credit.
“The purpose of this LEED credit is to encourage biking to work – and by providing a shower, you can freshen up after your ride, promoting the use of more sustainable transportation methods,” Lauren Daniels, an employee at Aegis Property Group who has helped plan a variety of buildings at Lafayette, wrote in an email.
“We do have several colleagues who have used the shower in the Simon Center after riding their bikes or walking in when the weather is warmer,” economics department head David Stifel wrote in an email. “Some have also used it to freshen up after mid-day exercise.”
Other professors were less familiar.
“Honestly, I don’t even know where the shower is, my bad!” biology professor Eric Ho, who works in RISC, wrote in an email.
The showers have not gone unnoticed by the students who frequent the buildings.
Alex Ingraham ‘27 — who considers himself “experienced” in showers and has rated showers across the world on his Snapchat — said he would give the shower in RISC a “six out of 10,” a whole three points higher than his dorm shower.
“The shower head was pretty short,” Ingraham said. “The water pressure was also pretty mid, genuinely. I think they could work on that.”
“No Dumb Questions” is a series dedicated to answering the questions you’re too afraid to ask because, let’s be real, you’re not the only one wondering. Submit your “dumb questions” (no such thing) using this form.
