VCU bans hoverboards on campus
VCU announced Friday that hoverboards would be banned from campus in the spring semester, and to "leave them at home." Photo courtesy of Camara Morrison.
As videos of hoverboards exploding due to their lithium ion batteries overheating continue to surface on youtube, VCU has joined a growing list of universities wary of the dangers posed by the transportation devices.
In an email to the VCU community on Jan. 15, students and faculty were alerted that the university had become the latest to ban hoverboards, joining a list of public establishments, cities and even countries which have banned the popular gizmos.
“Effective immediately, Virginia Commonwealth University is prohibiting the operation, storage and charging of hoverboards and similar products inside all owned or leased property where VCU and VCU Health conduct business,” the email read, “This includes residence halls, classroom buildings, VCU Medical Center and related medical enterprises.”
A day prior to the VCU announcement, students at Virginia Tech and Radford University received similar news. And just a week prior to that, James Madison University, Old Dominion University and the College of William and Mary issued the same ban. George Mason University banned the boards in December.
On Monday, Stanford University researchers claimed a solution that could prevent the boards’ fiery fates: a lithium ion battery that shuts down before overheating, although it could be months before the new battery is commercialized and ready to hit markets.
For VCU, the ban means hoverboard riders, including freshman Camara Morrison, will not be able to return to school from winter break with their new gadgets.
“I got mine in September but I never brought it to school although my friends wanted me to. I was thinking of bringing my hoverboard this semester,” Morrison said, “but I’m not mad at all because if I live on the 15th floor and if someone’s board blew up and or caught on fire I’m screwed.”
Although Morrison acknowledges the fire hazard associated with riding his hoverboard, he says riding the device is a pastime that’s simply too fun to give up.
“I still ride mine all the time,” he said, “I see little kids in my neighborhood that ride them in a squad too.”
Print News Editor, Fadel Allassan
Fadel is a sophomore print journalism major. He is fluent in English, French and Sarcasm, and he probably doesn’t like you. Fadel enjoys writing about politics and making people drive him to Cook-Out. // Facebook | LinkedIn
