The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 43, No. 3 - 44

Katherine B. Boone * Denise L. Davidson * Mark Bauman

Helping residents become
aware of differences, increase
their knowledge of diversity,
and develop skills to
communicate in multicultural
settings is essential to an
educated citizenry and strong
American communities.

cerns, RAs conduct announced room checks
to ensure that rooms are clean and free of
unauthorized items, including weapons, drug
paraphernalia, and items posing a fire safety
hazard; they may even encounter such items
in the course of routine interactions with residents in their rooms. Several court cases in the
1990s involving search and seizure caused institutions to change their procedures for room
entry, search, and confiscation of prohibited
or illegal items. Institutional staff, including
RAs, were required to announce and obtain
permission to enter a room or initiate the
process of procuring a warrant, although for
private institutions this was less restrictive
(Scheuermann, 2013).
Fire prevention and response, among other
emergency situations, are important aspects
of the RA position. An event in 2000 changed
what is asked of RAs in certain crisis situations. Following several false fire alarms in
previous days, there was a fire, set by students,
in a residence hall at Seton Hall University.
Three residents died, and more than 50 others
44

were injured (Campus Fire Watch, 2006).
One RA, Dana Christmas, sustained burns on
more than 85% of her body after going back
into the hall four times to ensure that all her
residents had left the building (Campus Fire
Watch, 2006). This fire altered not only how
halls were built and renovated, but also penalties for false alarms and, more important,
what institutions asked of student staff when
a fire alarm sounded. As a result, RAs were
no longer expected to ensure that residents
evacuated when an alarm sounded (Allen,
Sewalish, & Siron, 2008). Their role was redefined: Leave the building, gather residents in
a central outside location, and maintain order.
This tragedy provided an opportunity to pause
and reassess placing RA staff in potentially
dangerous situations.
The fatal shooting of students and staff in
2007 at Virginia Tech University forced institutions to reconceptualize risk and threat assessment. In addition to their roles as responders,
RAs now play critical roles as observers and
reporters of possible threats and crises. As a
result, training practices for this more intense
expectation have evolved to meet the new
emergency preparedness demands (Diekow &
Dunkel, 2013).
More recently, attention has turned to ensuring access to higher education, particularly
for students with disabilities. The disclosure of,
attention to, and complexity of various physical
disabilities have substantially increased in the
last five years (Heiman & Precel, 2003). Learning, medical, cognitive, and mental health
issues have also gained attention (Bauman,
Davidson, Sachs, & Kotarski, 2013). These statutes have affected RA levels of involvement
in disability-related matters and the training

THE JOURNAL OF COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY STUDENT HOUSING

The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 43, No. 3

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 43, No. 3