Probable Cause? Not in New Residence

By: Jessica Pezzone
Posted In: News

The website for the Office of Residential Life states that “A room or apartment is a student’s home while at Salve Regina University and students have the right to privacy in that space.”

The majority of the time, students agree that Residential Life does a good job of enforcing necessary policies and keeping privacy of the students a priority.

After the first floor meetings of the Spring 2005 semester, however, many residents feel as if this right to privacy is being infringed upon.

This past month, residents were informed by the Area Coordinator for New Residence that Resident Assistants would be provided with keys and allowed to enter occupant’s suites at any point during their rounds (without probable cause), a policy unheard of at most other schools.

The actual specifics of the policy seem to differ from RA to RA – some RA’s will simply stick their heads into the door once a night, while others will walk down the suite hall to the common room multiple times when they are on duty.

It is important to realize that the RA’s have no part in this procedure; their only relation to it is out of duty to their jobs, and it is the Office of Residential Life that has implemented it. This policy is neither stated on the website of Residential life nor in the handbook.

Wanting to know more, I spoke with Dennis DelGizzo, the director of Residential Life, and he informed me as to why the “suite searching” policy was implemented in the first place.

“In the New Residence, the suites have both an outer and inner door, and there is a buffer as to what is going on inside…The purpose is just for the RA’s to touch base and see what is going on with the students.”

DelGizzo also noted that this procedure was put into action in order to foster a more friendly and cooperative relationships between the RA’s and the people on their floor.

“A student in New Residence may stay within the confines of their suite, and leave only for class and to go down to the cafeteria. The Resident Assistants would have no relationship with these students, so this policy helps to promote contact with RA’s.”

I learned that the idea of entering suites without probable cause had surfaced last year, but due to a number of reasons, did not make its way into the actual policy of Res Life. This policy will not, in the future, be applied to other dorms and living areas – Residential Life claims that the only reason to go into suites is because of the double doors isolating them from the occupant’s rooms.

Many students living in New Residence were not only angered and stunned by this proposition, but also hurt by it.

“Coming into our suites is an invasion of privacy, and I feel as if Res Life is pointing fingers at us residents who haven’t done anything,” Tara Tucholski, a freshman at Salve, states.

Many students share this similar sentiment, and hold the opinion that if Residential Life does not have cause to enter suites, the doors should remain closed.

Tony Vellucci, also a freshman living in New Residence, expresses this point of view perfectly.

“I can understand Residential Life wanting to make the campus secure, but I think they have to remember the rights of privacy. Resident assistants should only be able to enter suites if they feel there is something suspicious going on; otherwise, it is an invasion of privacy.”

The consensus among New Residence students is that they feel particularly targeted – because this is the only residence hall to undergo such a procedure, occupants of this building feel as if they’re being taken aside and reprimanded.

It seems as if the Office of Residential Life must strike a balance in between keeping the privacy of their students at hand and keeping students safe. Many students see no connection between their safety and the “peeking into” their suites, and are asking Res Life to re-examine their policies.

Fostering a happy and healthy life in the residence halls must be the priority of the Residential Life staff; many students feel as if they have missed the mark with this new proposal.

Visit the SRU Mosaic Message Boards and let us know what you think! Do you think RAs entering suites in New Res is an invasion of privacy?