Fifteen dollars can get you a lot at The University Center. You can shoot pool with a friend for three hours at the Side Pocket game room, or you can drop your pants and receive oral sex from a stranger in the bathroom.
The black Sharpie written messages on the walls of the second and third floor men's bathrooms tell the story.
The messages offer oral and anal sex to "straight, curious or married guys, (ages) 18-37, anytime, white or Hispanic only."
Also within the stalls, the message, "1st floor bj," has been written in numerous places in similar handwriting. After a visit to the first floor, which is on the basement level, it is clear why.
There is a "glory hole" drilled in the wall between the two stalls in the first floor men's bathroom in The University Center. And it has been there for a while. "Glory holes" are fist-sized holes, through which people anonymously perform various sexual acts.
"I noticed it last September," said a student, who asked to remain anonymous. The junior English major said that while he was using a urinal in the first floor men's room, a man in the first stall slipped him a note, asking if he wanted oral sex. "I thought it was a joke, until I read the writings on the walls and saw the hole."
He decided to look into what was going on. He remembered the man wore New Balance shoes, and the next time he went in the bathroom he saw the same pair of shoes in the stall. He waited outside in the hall until the person left. During this time, he saw other men go into the bathroom, each staying about 30 minutes.
"I think those were his customers," he said.
Two hours passed and the student was tired of waiting for the man to exit, so he left The UC
A recent investigation by The Daily Helmsman picked up where the English major left off. A reporter accompanied by two other U of M students, observed a short, stocky balding man wearing glasses enter the restroom. An hour later, he walked through the parking garage to a visitors' lot on Zach Curlin.
During the man's stay in the restroom, several other men entered and exited in 20 to 30 minute intervals. The men's ages appeared to range from 20's to 50's. After the men left, condom wrappers were found on the floors of the stalls.
"It was creepy," said anthropology major Eric Gamble.
To verify that the men's presence in the restroom was not coincidental, the next day the reporter called one of the numbers on the wall to set up a meeting with a man.
A man answered his phone and said he would arrive shortly after 4 p.m. wearing a white T-shirt, khaki shorts and New Balance tennis shoes. He agreed to charge $15 for his services.
A reporter, photographer and two other students positioned themselves around The University Center to see if the man would show up. At 4:10, a man, considerably younger than the man seen the previous day and matching the description given on the phone, was spotted walking from Walker Avenue toward The UC He went down the stairs, walked through the camera-monitored hallway and entered the bathroom. Forty-five minutes later he exited the bathroom, walked to his Jeep Grand Cherokee parked on Walker and drove off campus.
The bathroom in question is adjacent to the Judicial Affairs office and near post office boxes and the Side Pocket game room, which is described on The University's Web site as "a safe social gathering place for U of M students, faculty and staff." However, children and teenagers also use The UC while attending various camps on campus during the summer.
"I think The University should fix the hole and inspect what's happening down there," said the English major.
According to Derek Myers, deputy director of The U of M's public safety, they have addressed the situation in the past, but nothing has stopped it.
"We have had this problem for at least the past 13 years," Myers said. "We send in a work order to physical plant to repair the hole, but the hole keeps coming back."
Myers said there have been numerous arrests for public indecency in the past, and the individuals involved are usually not affiliated with The University.
However, because it is hard to catch the violators in the act, the police usually attempt to scare off suspicious looking people, by asking for identification. Myers said no complaints of the hole or suspicious activities taking place have been filed during the past year. Myers said people who use The UC facilities often, should have notified the authorities, because the police depend on the campus community to report things that are not out in the open.
The "glory hole" has caused concern for at least one upset student.
"We pay a lot of money to go here," said the English major. "I don't want a prostitution ring on campus."
