Following the events of the “devious lick” social media trend, administrators instructed janitors not to refill soap dispensers as a consequence for the theft of the toiletries in the bathrooms. 

Junior Bella Grasso took it upon herself to place soap bottles in the bathrooms with the note “please don’t steal” for students to use to wash their hands. 

“I was inspired to put soap in the bathrooms after not having soap for so long,” Grasso said. “I thought it was nasty that we all had to use the bathroom but couldn’t wash our hands with soap. I was going to carry around my own bottle, but I realized no one else had access to soap, so it would just be easier to put bottles in the bathroom for everyone to use.”

Grasso said she wanted to help her peers and hoped the administration would notice and replace the soap. 

“My number one goal with the soap bottles was just to try and help the student body and do something kind,” Grasso said. “My other goal was to prove to the administration that we were not going to steal the soap, and that it was important for us to have access to it, especially because COVID is still a real issue and it’s now flu season.”

Administration said they did not have another option but to temporarily remove the soap from the dispensers.

 “It was really sad and very disappointing to see how some students abused the soap, which resulted in flooded, soapy bathrooms that created a very lengthy and messy clean-up for our custodians,” assistant principal Donna Lejeune said.

Lejeune said administrators were aware of the soap bottles placed in the bathrooms.

“We appreciate the efforts of the student who placed the bottles in the restroom, as it helped prove to us that our students were ready for the soap to return and responsible enough to handle it appropriately,” Lejeune said. “Thank you for helping us and helping our campus! We are hopeful that we will not have to remove the soap again in the future.”

Lejeune said the bottles placed in the bathroom by Grasso showed that students were able to prove that they were responsible enough to handle having soap back in the bathroom and responsible enough to use it appropriately. 

“We want our students to be respectful of our bathroom expectations, and we are now hopeful that everyone is back to that understanding,” Lejeune said. 

Grasso said she received positive feedback from students and so many people reached out and said thank you. 

“A couple teachers mentioned it, but for the most part no one knew it was me putting the soap in the bathroom,” Grasso said. “I feel grateful that I was able to make a change and help prove to the administration that we could respect property and deserve to have soap back.”