Late fall semester, student committees opted to not upgrade to a higher quality toilet paper following negative feedback from students staying in residence halls.

Robert (Bob) Tattershall, Director of Housing and Conference Services at WSU said students appreciated the higher quality of toilet paper, but were not willing to pay the extra $50,000, approximately $10 per student, that would be added to regular living expenses.

“It wouldn’t be an extra charge, it would just mean we would spend $50,000 on toilet paper instead of on something else,” Tattershall said.

Samples of the higher quality toilet paper were distributed by the Student Staff Committee to assistant hall directors of the different residence halls for students to examine and provide feedback.

“They said if people were willing to pay the fee we’re fine, we’ll add it, people just have to want to pay it,” said Jordan Frost, president of the Resident Hall Association, “it wasn’t about them not having money or anything like that.”

The decision to save costs and stick with lower quality was not unanimous; some students felt the difference was worth the cost.

“There were some students that thought it was worth the increased fees for a better product, but I would say they were in the minority,” Said Griffin Uchida, coordinator  for Leadership Academic and Diversity Initiatives at Housing and Dining, “but their opinions were still offered up and presented to the committee that came to it.”

Once faculty had gathered enough feedback, their opinions were brought before the Student Staff Committee, made up of members from ASWSU, GPSA, RHA and different hall governments. They decided not to upgrade.

“From there, most of the students seem to think yes, it was better quality, but it’s a pretty negligible increase, and not necessarily worth an increase in living fees,” Uchida said.

Reporting by Rebecca White

This story has been updated to reflect that Jordan Frost, not Robert Frost is the president of the Resident Hall Association