The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 37, No. 2 - 81

Resident Assistants as Rule Enforcers

RESuLTS
Resident Assistants’ Friendships with Residents
To determine whether RAs were friends with their residents, RAs indicated with what percentage of the residents on their floor and in their residence building they had a personal relationship, such as a friendship. The questionnaire respondents stated they had a personal relationship with a mean of 49.5% of the residents on their floor, with the percentage ranging from 0% to 98% (Mdn =50%, mode = 50%, sd = .287). Only 3.1% claimed not to be friends with anyone on their floor, and 75% admitted to befriending at least 25% of the residents on their floor. With respect to residents in their building, the mean was 22.1%, and the range was 0% to 80% (Mdn =20%, mode = 21.9%, sd = .169). Again, only 3.1% noted that they were not friends with any residents in their building, whereas approximately 44% claimed to have befriended at least 20% of the building’s residents. All interviewees expressed the need to deliberately create and maintain personal relationships with residents and to be a hall mate to them, as indicated by these remarks: • “I’m more of a friend with my residents than [the residential life office] would like; I am friends with all of my residents.” • “I’m in there [i.e., the residence hall] with everyone. I feel like part of the hall.” • “With residents who I know well . . . I’m one of the girls [i.e., residents]. . . . [I] tell them, ‘Don’t forget, I’m one of the residents too.’” Yet some interviewees also revealed that their relationships with residents never reach the

level of equality between peers, and they felt “distanced” from some residents. These feelings were due primarily to their status as RAs and to differences between their residents and themselves in age, class year, or both, and in work loads and class schedules (especially differences between first-year students and junior and senior RAs), as evidenced by these comments: • “[I]’m an RA. No matter how close we [i.e., the RA and the residents] are, I’m still the RA. I know they’re acting different around me because I’m the RA.” • “People introduce me as an RA and not a friend.” • “I don’t feel [as though I am] part of the hall. I’m older. I like things quiet, and residents are loud. . . . [T]he age difference causes distance.” • “I feel distance [from my residents] because I’m an upper-class [student] and they are [first-year students].” • “I’m one of the girls [i.e., residents, but] when an incident happens, everyone gets weird and there is distance. . . . When I’m on [RA] duty, I’m different, more serious.” • “I try to talk to residents, blend into the hall as much as I can. . . . [However,] there is definitely a separation [between the residents and me]. I don’t want to get too close [to them]. I’m not ‘one of the girls,’ because of the age difference. They invite me to hang out, but I choose not to, not necessarily because of age [i.e., they are all first-year students], but because I’m a senior and my schedule is different. Also, because I’m an RA, they are hesitant to open up too much. They know I have authority over them.” • “I feel like my RA position keeps me from expressing myself freely to my residents.”

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The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 37, No. 2

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