Sam Watson, the university’s spokesman, said the school could not discuss Carr's death, but he noted that no one from Carr's suite had lodged any complaints about mold. State nor the Orangeburg County coroner investigated whether mold played a role, records released to date show. She died there, her lungs full of fluid, a campus police report said. Classmates rushed her to the hospital, but it was too late. Students said they found mold on couches and chairs, around air ducts and on a mattress. Others suggested mold was more widespread. They included seemingly minor reports about mold in showers. Her dorm complex had a history of mold complaints - 32 during the past two years, records show. And it seemed to get worse when she was in her dorm, her mother told The Post and Courier earlier this year. Athletic and trim, she also struggled with asthma. Amya Carr, 21, was a senior this spring, majoring in communications and co-captain of the Champagne Dancers, the university’s dance troupe. One mystery lingers over South Carolina State University in Orangeburg. Symptoms of mold exposure often mimic those from other illnesses, creating medical mysteries. Many mold strains generate toxins that trigger myriad health problems, from asthma and allergies to brain fog. The stakes are high - for students who live with mold and universities responsible for providing safe housing. “Black mold is actively growing, covering the ceiling, the window and now the bed frames,” a student in Winthrop University’s Richardson Hall told the school in August 2020. “Everyone in my room is experiencing symptoms of black mold,” a student at Coastal Carolina University’s Ingle Hall reported in September 2021. The place is awful now,” a student in Clemson University’s Lightsey Bridge complex told school officials in October 2021. They opened air vents and discovered filters and grates caked with black fungi. They watched mushrooms sprout from baseboards and over their heads. Students said they found mold on their desks, mattresses, couches and even their hats. In complaint after complaint, students said moldy dorms triggered asthma attacks and allergies, a new Post and Courier-led Uncovered investigation found. South Carolina college students faced at least 2,400 possible cases of mold in their dorms during the past two years, a crush of complaints and repairs that highlight a growing local and national problem: college living spaces that make students sick.

With reporting and images by the Uncovered team

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