A damaged security camera. Obscene scribbles on a wall. Stolen artwork. Soiled elevators.

This isn’t a dilapidated building in a bad neighborhood. It’s the GrandMarc.

Once touted as one of the most pleasant and exclusive places to live near campus, the GrandMarc has lost its luster after persistent student vandalism has damaged the property and turned some of its features into eyesores.

That some students at the apartment complex deliberately caused thousands of dollars in damage is shocking, not to mention insulting. The feral behavior exhibited by the residents responsible for the vandalism is not becoming of students at this university, and their actions give the general student population a bad reputation, one that many haven’t earned.

Although Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Don Mills said the university will not sit idly in face of the vandalism charges, it appears that a more aggressive stance is needed to deter such behavior at the GrandMarc, seeing as how vandalism has been an issue for more than two years. Temporary suspension from the university or eviction from the apartment complex should be considered for first-time offenders instead of delaying the punch until someone breaks an elevator.

Vandalism hardly reflects the sophistication of thought that students should be acquiring through an expensive college education. College is about becoming an adult. It’s time to grow up.

Managing editor Julieta Chiquillo for the editorial board.