THE SIREN wails, traffic slows, your eyes lock on our worst nightmare: blue and red flashing lights. That’s right, you’re getting pulled over. Panic sets in; seatbelts fly into place; illegal substances (if they are in the car) are poorly and desperately concealed. For some of the do-gooders out there this is not quite a frightening experience; however, for us typical college students it can be downright unnerving. Coming to college, first-years feel an added blanket of security by being tucked away in dorms with no one but a fellow college student to tell you what to do. They must be cool if they’re in college, right? Wrong. The enemy lives with you, watches you while you sleep, and occasionally VSOCs you. Some Resident Advisors at this University have taken a large, worrisome step out of their job description and into that resembling the Gestapo.
Although many RAs on Grounds are very useful, helpful, and supportive, a few do exist that put a bad name to those who work for their students rather than against them. A particularly disturbing event occurred last semester. Several students in my dorm had become slightly infamous for bumping their subwoofers, partying in dorms, and whatnot. So one casual Monday when there was no coverage – a designated RA in each dorm is required on Friday and Saturday to check each room for inappropriate behavior – they opened up a few cold ones and watched a little television. In a blink of an eye three RAs crashed down in a sting operation-like fashion to crack down on such insidious crimes. Shocked, the quiet first-years were caught red-handed and slapped with a few VSOCs. Clearly, the students were in the wrong but the way they were caught has a shade of wrong as well.
First of all none of the RAs were in that suite; all were located on different floors and had not been bothered or disturbed by the residents at all. They had used the Facebook pictures and had grilled other students about the “trouble-makers” habits. Facebook?! Admittedly it was ridiculously stupid for them to post those pictures but it is also ridiculously out of the RA’s jurisdiction and job description to go out of their way to crack down on those students.
As described by a RA at the University, a RA’s true duty as a University authority is to work to “bring their residents into the UVa community by helping them adjust to dorm life,” and that “they are trained to play a supportive role.” Naturally anytime someone is in a role of authority abuses will occur but reform needs to follow. We need to avoid our dorm life transforming into a police state in which we are afraid of our advisors rather than feeling comfortable with going to them with our problems. A state like such would severely diminish our happiness and ostracize us from this so-called “community.”
In a separate incident in dorms, several students were drinking away into the night when one fell dangerously ill and alcohol poisoning began setting in. Feeling that the on-call RA would have the best solution, one of the others ran to him for assistance in dealing with the situation. The solution: VSOCs. Clearly the RA had his priorities mixed up; for a fellow classmate to have a potentially fatal problem and the first course of action to be handing out VSOCs is embarrassing, scary, and absurd.
I’m not an advocate for the blatant breaking of our University’s rules as they are there for a reason to keep dorms a safe environment. However, I am most certainly an advocate to clean up our RA’s actions and implement a system in which there may be transparency and a system in which those doing wrong may be reported. When students fear or are uncomfortable going to their RA about advice or help the whole crux of the process has been destroyed.
More opportunity needs to be available to the students to rate or evaluate the RAs than once a semester. Although senior residents are available to be reached every day, it is difficult to approach them with a concern after you have done something wrong. RAs should not be able to bask in the glory after their big bust when they are the ones who should be busted. The supposed supervisors of our supervisors should not turn a blind eye to such behavior and need to be slightly less ignorant to how their advisors are acting.
The RAs have lost their effectiveness and have switched roles to antagonists. Rise to the occasion when your students need advisors, do not rise in power and swing that mighty VSOC sword.
Bobby Laverty is a Viewpoint Writer for the Cavalier Daily.
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