Information session on environmental testing results on Dec. 5

Nov. 22, 2024

Dear Maroons,

I’m writing to provide an update on the environmental testing that has been conducted on the Roanoke College main campus over the past few months. As you may recall, we commissioned this testing through a contract with Environmental Services Consultants (ECS) Mid-Atlantic, a national EPA-accredited firm. This testing was voluntarily initiated by the college after an online publication implied, without evidence, that there was a potential causal connection between the college and cases of young alumni diagnosed with various forms of cancer in recent years.

It has taken some time, but the college has received preliminary results. Overall, the results are reassuring. While there were isolated and minor opportunities for remediation, the overall battery of tests revealed no systemic environmental concerns that indicate our campus is unsafe.

ECS will be on campus to share an overview of the results from noon to 1 p.m. on Thursday, December 5 in Pickle Lounge. I invite you to join us to hear directly from the experts about the scope of the project, their methodology and the results. You can RSVP here. For those who are unable to attend in person, a summary of the information session will be posted on the college’s website the following day.

The college reached out to Dr. Cynthia Morrow, Health Director of Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts with the Virginia Department of Health, and she confirmed that “there is no evidence of a cancer cluster at Roanoke College.” Morrow commended the college for taking the extra step of conducting environmental assessments and expressed thanks that the college shared the results with her. “The results are very reassuring and further indicates that Roanoke College is not a cancer cluster, and further affirms that there is no evidence of a significant environmental threat related to cancer,”  Morrow said. 

As I noted in my last update, this has been a time-consuming process despite our efforts to move as expeditiously as possible. From the beginning, we committed to moving forward in a thorough, data-informed and scientific manner to achieve accurate and complete results. I want to thank you for your patience during this process and I look forward to seeing you on Dec. 5.

Warm Regards,

Frank Shushok, Jr., Ph.D.
President