University of Iowa bans hoverboards

IOWA CITY - Any University of Iowa students who unwrapped hoverboards for Christmas in hopes of cruising around campus Marty McFly-style should think again.

UI Housing and Dining has joined numerous other universities across the country in banning the new two-wheel self-balancing motorized scooters following repeated reports of explosions. The UI prohibition encompasses use and possession of hoverboards in residence halls, apartments, and dining facilities.

'The concerns really are the fire safety issues they have right now,” said Von Stange, vice president for student life and director of UI Housing and Dining. 'The amount of hoverboards that are combusting while charging - in a building where there are a lot of students in a smaller space - is too much risk.”

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission last month reported at least a dozen incidents in the United States in which lithium ion batteries in hoverboards caught fire - destroying rooms and even homes. Reports have continued to roll in nationally and internationally, prompting universities and airlines around the globe to ban the boards, which don't actually levitate but roll along on two small wheels positioned directly under a user's feet.

Earlier this week, international news agencies reported a hoverboard that had been plugged in to charge for just 10 minutes exploded in a home in Melbourne, Australia, blowing out windows and severely damaging the building.

But reports began surfacing before the Christmas holiday, and UI officials made the call to ban them in the residence halls before students left for winter break Dec. 18.

'Students who receive them as gifts this break period should not bring them back to campus and should become informed about fire concerns regarding the batteries that operate the boards,” according to a notification sent out to students before Christmas.

Stange told The Gazette on Thursday he was aware of at least one student with a hoverboard on campus before the break, and he said there could have been more. But, in the notification sent out before break, students were told that those currently in possession 'should take them home over the break period and not bring them back to campus.”

UI Housing and Dining officials made the call after consulting with numerous campus constituents, including UI police and risk management officials.

'So this decision wasn't made in a vacuum,” Stange said.

And, he added, the prohibition could be reversed if the products stabilize and concerns abate.

'We will look at it again in the fall,” Stange said. 'But there have been enough concerns that we have put a hold on them until everyone has more information.”

Safety, he said, is paramount.

'The fires occurring are pretty hot,” he said. 'They are pretty dangerous at this point in time.”

Other universities nationally that have banned hoverboards in some capacity include the University of Northern Iowa, University of Colorado-Boulder, George Washington University, Louisiana State University, and University of Arkansas.

UNI Director of Residence Glenn Gray on Thursday told The Gazette his university doesn't allow hoverboards in residential facilities both because motorized vehicles present a safety hazard and because of the fire danger posed by the boards, specifically.

Iowa State University Director of Resident Pete Englin said he has no reports of ISU students using hoverboards, and he hasn't seen one on campus. However, he told The Gazette, given the risks reported recently, ISU could move in that direction.

'But we are not there yet,” he said.

At Coe College in Cedar Rapids, officials haven't given the issue much thought, said spokesman Rod Pritchard.

'We will continue to monitor the hoverboard phenomenon and react accordingly, if it becomes necessary to regulate their use on campus,” Pritchard said.

Mount Mercy University in Cedar Rapids also doesn't have a policy around hoverboards, but Dean of Students Malinda Jensen said it's working on one.

'We are concerned about the reports that the batteries are overheating causing these devices to explode,” she said in a statement. 'That would be the grounds for banning if we move in that direction.”