The dismissal of the Jogues RHC, two resident assistants in Regis violations of university codes of conduct has left Fairfield’s residence life staff troubled.
Clark Callahan, the Jogues RHC, Becky Robinson ’05 and Kevin Seville ’06 resigned or were dismissed from their positions in residence life staff two weeks ago after other RA’s reported their infractions.
The infractions committed by Robinson and Seville, according to members of residence life staff, ordinarily would not have merited more than a few points, a small fine or a drug and alcohol education class if not for their employment positions within the university.
Robinson and Seville lost their positions as RAs, which included paid room and board, a $150 stipend per semester, a single room, staff parking sticker and more.
The two had to move this past weekend and must now pay the remainder of their room and board fees for alcohol infractions for which most students wouldn’t have been severely penalized.
Robinson and Seville declined to contribute to this story.
Are student resident assistants being held to too stringent a code of conduct trying to balance student life and position of authority among their peers as employees of Fairfield University?
“Resident assistants are expected to abide by the code of conduct, just like any other student,” said Fran Koerting, director of residence life. “They are held to a higher standard in that they are expected to be positive role models and that their actions may affect the integrity and respect for the position.”
The higher standard may have proven too much for eleven RAs who have either been dismissed or resigned over the past seven and a half years.
Sean Barrett ’05, a former RA in Loyola who resigned last year, believes the problems lie in the way infractions are handled, not the code of conduct itself.
“The code of conduct isn’t too stringent because part of the resident assistant job is to be a good role model,” said Barrett. “However, this is extremely difficult when your residents are part of your social life. Residence life has a far stricter code for violations within the building than outside offenses.”
“I don’t think the problem is with the code but rather the way inter-office judicial issues are handled,” he said. “Rather than doing full investigations, sometimes rumors are considered fact merely by the word of one or two people and that is unfair to the people involved.”
RAs constantly flirt with the blurred line between student and administrator, a line that never quite separates the two parts. Part of being an RA means being recognizable on campus as an authority figure, whether on duty or off, and being held accountable for one’s actions as a role model at all times.
This can be a vulnerable position, as Barrett discovered.
“The issue with rumors is that a lot of times they get started intentionally by residents or other RA’s to get revenge on another person,” said Barrett. “People know how damaging a stupid rumor can be and take advantage of that.”
Koerting acknowledged and sympathized with the predicament many resident assistants face trying to maintain a social life and a responsibility.
“The problematic aspect comes in with constantly being in the fishbowl and never being able to let down your guard,” said Koerting. “We cover all this during the selection process, training and throughout the year but we realize it can still be difficult for some.
Michael LaBella was recently hired as the new Jogues RHC effective November 8. The residence life department is currently selecting candidates to fill Robinson’s position from the pool of female applicants last spring and Seville’s position from nine new male applicants, according to Koerting.
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