Ciara Peselli, sophomore exercise and sport science major, had a traumatic experience with her first-year roommate.
“My roommate wanted to stab me, and she would bang on my door when I was taking a nap and tell me to get out of my room and threaten to hurt me if I left my door unlocked,” Peselli said.
Peselli’s situation had to be handled urgently due to the gravity of her circumstances.
“I slept in my friend’s room for a bit, and then the Office of University Housing found out that I wasn’t staying in my room,” Peselli said. “So they got the cops involved, and I came back to my room one night, and there were eight cops in my dorm, and I got an emergency housing transfer.”
Peselli said anyone having a problem with a roommate should talk to the Office of University Housing about it.
“They will definitely help you and get you out of the situation, and make sure you’re safe and find you better roommates,” Peselli said.
Kendall Andries, senior exercise and sports science major and resident assistant at Goodwin, said roommates should try to deal with most conflicts by themselves first before getting others involved. These types of conflict include disagreements on chores around the dorm, bringing people to the dorms without letting others know and cooking routines.
“Obviously if they can’t resolve it, that’s why I’m here, but I think one thing that people forget is there are multiple sides to a story,” Andries said. “Everybody should listen to every person, so they have a full understanding of what’s going on, so no one is biased. Because Goodwin is a three-person room, it’s usually two against one, so I try to talk to everybody individually.”
Meliyah Boyd, first-year biology major, who also had some conflicts with her roommate, said roommates should be open with each other.
“I think it’s just open communication,” Boyd said. “We sit down and talk about it.”
Some students, like Boyd, look for specific traits when choosing their roommate.
“I looked for someone who had mutual respect for me and also respect for our area,” Boyd said.
If discussing the problem between roommates and with the RA does not resolve the problem, moving out of the room can become an option.
“If I can resolve the issue then it should be fine, but if it’s not resolved and they want to move then I have to take it to my boss,” Andries said. “If the situation does get bad to where a resident doesn’t feel comfortable living there, they can request to move.”
For housing concerns:
Reach out to the Office of University Housing at 954-262-7052.
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