The state of the Valley
Students comment on the sinkhole, power outage and construction
Anjali Dalal-Whelan / Asst. News Editor / The USD Vista
The Valley, one of the residence areas for a large portion of USD first-years and sophomores, has faced many challenges this spring semester, from construction on the Wellness Center, a 24-hour power outage, blocked pathways and broken elevators. Another notable problem in the Valley is the large sinkhole that has formed in the garden behind Mata’yuum Crossroads. The garden has been roped off with caution tape for the last few weeks and marked with signs that read “Danger Do Not Pass Sink Hole.” First appearing at the beginning of April, the sinkhole appears to have grown. The gate at the back of the garden has collapsed into the hole.
The sinkhole has gained attention on the app Fizz where students can anonymously post text and pictures. Three Fizz posts referring to the sinkhole gained over 1,000 upvotes each, with other posts about the issue gaining hundreds of upvotes. One anonymous poster commented “Power outage, sinkhole, now earthquake. The USD apocalypse is really here.” Other posts made jokes about the cost of USD’s tuition and the state of the Valley.
According to the New York Times, the “atmospheric rivers” in California have been causing more sinkholes, which are uncommon in the state. A 50-foot sinkhole in Los Angeles swallowed two cars in January
“[In LA] the overflow water churned and formed pockets of space, or found other voids to fill and widen. The collected water weakened the ground supporting the surface above, making it more prone to collapse. Above ground, the thoroughly drenched top layer also struggled under the extra water weight.”
USD’s Facilities Management explained the cause of USD’s sinkhole.
“The sinkhole resulted from erosion that started in the slope leading down to Tecolote Canyon in 2020 and has been exacerbated by the heavy rains that we’ve experienced recently.”
Facilities Management added that they are “currently engaged with the City of San Diego, as the location of the erosion and subsequent sinkhole are in a public storm drain easement and the repair is the responsibility of the City of San Diego.”
Although it is the responsibility of the City of San Diego, Facilities Management assured that they are working with engineering professionals to prevent erosion as well as taking steps such as blocking off the surrounding area to protect students.
According to the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors, sinkholes can be extremely dangerous. If a person steps into a sinkhole, or if it collapses under them, they can be injured or killed. Additionally, they can cause structural damage to buildings, roads and bridges.
Luckily the sinkhole behind Mata’yuum Crossroads is out of the way of buildings and has been blocked off to avoid human injury. However, this has caused the entire garden behind Mata’yuum Crossroads to be blocked off, adding to the number of inaccessible areas in the Valley.
USD first-year Mackenzie Tackett was startled at first by the appearance of the sinkhole.“At first it was slightly concerning, because it rapidly grew, but now I feel like it won’t get bigger so I don’t focus on it that much,” Tackett said.
Due to the construction on the new Wellness Center and the sinkhole, the Valley looks dramatically different than the aesthetics of USD’s main campus, which was awarded the most beautiful campus by Princeton Review. The Wellness Center construction taking place in the former Valley Field has blocked off two of the main pathways to the main campus, both the Valley stairs and the Valley Field North Trail. The parking garage is the only access to main campus, leading to longer waits and crowded elevators.
The Valley also experienced an over 24-hour power outage from March 29 to March 30. USD first-year Hailey Howell reflected on this major inconvenience.
“The power outage was inconvenient because we had to throw out all of the food we had in our fridge. I also had to charge my phone and computer on campus, which made it difficult to do work and communicate because my devices kept dying.”
From the sinkhole, power outage and construction, the Valley’s conditions have been criticized by some students, however, students are taking the issues in stride by making light of the situation.
USD First-year Mikayla Thurber commented that in hindsight the power outage created positive memories.
“Even though it was frustrating in the moment, it makes for a hilarious story for my family and friends and will ironically serve as a core memory for us.”
The power outage also resulted in many popular Fizz posts finding comedy in the situation.
In the face of challenging circumstances, USD Valley residents have used humor to make the most of their experiences.