Students found a live bat in the fountain beverage machine tray in C3 Thursday evening.
Campus Dining and Shops suspects the bat entered from an outside hallway or an open door and that it was an isolated incident, according to Marketing Manager Ray Kohl. Kohl said the bat did not come into contact with guests, staff or food. CDS called a local exterminator to assess the situation and advise whether or not CDS needs further extermination services.
CDS shut down the fountain beverage machine and closed the area after the discovery and a supervisor removed the bat and placed it outside. CDS notified Pepsi, which sent employees to campus to disassemble the fountain beverage machine, disinfect and reassemble it.
Max Davis*, an employee at C3 and a UB student, said he used to think C3 is the “cleanest food service job” he’s ever worked, but says differently after students discovered the bat. Davis said he felt C3 should have explained what was happening better.
“This whole situation hasn’t sat well with me, as bats can carry a variety of diseases,” Davis said. “I feel that C3 has the responsibility to notify the students who ate there that day, but that hasn’t been the case.”
Kohl did not respond in time for publication regarding notifying students about the bat.
Some students expressed concerns about the bat spreading the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, after seeing a video of the bat on “buffsbarstool’s” Instagram account. There are no reports indicating that anyone in Erie County, including bats, have contracted COVID-19, as of Sunday evening.
*Student-worker’s name has been changed to protect them from repercussions at work.
Julian Roberts-Grmela is a senior news editor and can be reached at julian.grmela@ubspectrum.com and on Twitter @GrmelaJulian.
Julian Roberts-Grmela is a senior news editor for The Spectrum and an English and philosophy major. His favorite book is “White Teeth” by Zadie Smith and he hopes that one day his writing will be as good as hers.
