The departure of at least five resident assistants, or RAs, from Hedrick Hall in the past week has left students wondering, though housing officials say such turnover is normal.
Some of the five RAs were fired, and others resigned for varying reasons.
Suzanne Seplow, director of the Office of Residential Life, said every year it is expected that a number of RAs will either be asked to leave or choose to do so.
“We hire approximately 180 RAs a year,” she said, “It’s not uncommon for the RA positions to change.”
Denton Sato, a fifth-year economics and psychobiology student and former Hedrick 4 North RA, said though problems with RA behavior are not unique to Hedrick, he believes the hall has higher standards for their RAs than other dorms on the Hill, and is more likely to do something about policy violations.
“Some RAs will slack off in certain areas ““ if you don’t live up to the responsibilities, you can be fired at any time,” he said.
“I really have high praise for my supervisor. … I think if you look at RAs on the rest of the Hill, they’re doing just as bad of things, and they’re getting fired, but I think it depends on the supervisor.”
The “bad things” Sato mentioned are issues of violations of resident safety, he said.
“Drinking with residents, coming back to the building drunk, responsibilities with the master key. … If you come back intoxicated and are unable to clear the floor in case of a fire, you’re putting a lot of people at risk,” Sato said.
Kaiwan Chear, a first-year microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics student who lives on Hedrick 4 South, said he and his floormates have been impacted by the resignation of his former RA, Nick Koffroth, a third-year political science and public policy student.
Chear said the students were never officially told what happened. They were notified their RA was going to be fired, but then Koffroth resigned.
“I think the biggest effect is that now people really question the authority that is held by a lot of the adults that are in control of the ORL,” he said.
Chear said he believes this was because of both what he called “questionable fairness” as well as the lack of communication with the impacted students.
But not all of the departures occurred under bad conditions.
Sato said he resigned on good terms, and left because he could not handle the work load.
“It was my third year as an RA ““ for me, balancing my (RA) responsibilities with school and friends was difficult,” he said.
He said his decision to leave might affect students for a while, but maintained that they will be fine in the long run.
“I think it came as a shock to them,” Sato said. “Although it’s hard to say, I think most residents will get over it.”
Chear said he is not sure the transition will be an easy one for his floor, adding that students are left confused in the wake of Koffroth’s departure.
“We didn’t appreciate it,” he said, “We’re supposed to be adults ““ we should be taken seriously … and understand why things are happening around us, not left in the dark.”
Though Seplow said she could not comment on the specific cases, she did say the situation is being handled according to standard ORL procedures.
New RAs have already been hired and given training to “bring them up to speed,” she said, adding she does not believe the transition between RAs is dangerous for students, as some buildings have relied on one RA per floor in recent years.
As far as the students he is leaving behind, Sato said he is confident they will adjust well because he has worked with his replacement RA in the past.
“(The new RA) knows my working style, so they shouldn’t have that big of adjustment,” he said of the 4 North students.
However, Chear maintained that the RA loss was not simply a professional one. “A big thing about this is that we did lose a friend,” he said.
He said it takes a while for trust to build among RAs and students, and he believes it will not be easily reestablished.
“People had a lot of trust in (Koffroth). … It was easy to trust him, and now we’re going to have to start all over again with a new RA,” Chear said.
Sato said he believes the recent turnover will ultimately be an opportunity for residents to develop another beneficial relationship.
“It’s a chance to meet a new person and give that person a chance to connect with them,” he said.