Officials at Mississippi Valley State University are waiting on the go-ahead from the state fire marshal's office before cleanup can begin in College Hall I.
"We want them to be as thorough as possible," said Dr. Roy Hudson, vice president of university relations.
A fire gutted two rooms in the upperclassmen's dorm between midnight and 1 a.m. Oct. 19. The source of the fire remains under investigation.
Around 88 men were displaced by the fire and moved into other dorms. Lee Eskridge, a senior from Durant, had just moved into his room this semester. He has since been moved into Leflore Hall down the street.
He recovered most of his personal belongings. But the food and clothes in his second-floor room were ruined.
He is not happy with Valley's administrative response to the fire. "I don't think they're doing everything they can," Eskridge said.
Chuck Davis, a senior from Clarksdale, thinks differently. "They're doing all right," he said.
Like Eskridge, Davis has moved into Leflore Hall.
The senior said his new room is not much of a change from his home in College Hall I.
The dorm's fire alarm system did not go off during the fire. Students evacuated themselves and banged on doors to wake their fellow students.
University officials and investigators concluded last week that the alarm had been tampered with. But who disengaged the alarm, and when it happens remains unsolved, according to Hudson.
The school is now working with different contractors to replace the alarm system in College Hall I.
"What we need to do now is make the system better," Hudson said.
