Four goldfish found in the Hughes Formal Lounge owe their lives to the residents of the fifth floor of Hughes Hall.
The students have been taking care of the fish after two Delta Gamma sisters approached fifth-floor resident Andrea Parente and asked her if she wanted the fish on Jan. 22. Parente left the lounge to find a bowl for the fish. When she returned, the sisters were gone and the fish were abandoned in the lounge, she said.
“There were four fish and not enough water,” Parente said. “It was a medium-sized vase, but not enough water.”
The fish had allegedly been used as decorations by Delta Gamma for a recruitment event, according to a Facebook post from Rebeccah Bartola, a Hughes resident.
Curtis Burrill, coordinator for fraternity and sorority life in Student Activities, confirmed in an email that a sorority used fish in their pledging events But he did not say what happened to the fish after the event nor which sorority used them. Burrill also wrote that members were supposed to take the fish home after the event.
Representatives from Delta Gamma did not respond to The Eagle’s repeated request for comment.
Parente rescued four goldfish, which the Hughes fifth floor residents named Hardass Chandler, Wise Chandler, Pretty Chandler and Ron Paul.
The fish did not live long after that. Ron Paul died Jan. 24 and Hardass Chandler died Jan. 29.
Fifth floor resident Sam Epstein bought a tank for the three surviving fish and put it in the fifth floor lounge. Other fifth floor residents have provided food and supplies for the fish.
“The thing about taking care of goldfish, a lot of people don’t understand, is that it’s not that easy,” another Hughes resident who asked to remain anonymous said.
Bartola found more fish in the Hughes first-floor kitchen Jan. 23. The kitchen had been locked overnight and she found one container of five dead fish and one container of live fish. She brought the fish to the front desk, where Bartola said Delta Gamma was called to pick up the fish.
