According to the ABC News article found here (http://tinyurl.com/87njrht), Blankmeyer’s
roommate engaged in sexual intercourse with her boyfriend while Blankmeyer
tried to sleep on her side of the room. In addition, the roommate had erotic
webcam sessions—again, while Blankmeyer was present. Before I go any further, I
need to note that Blankmeyer was a SENIOR at this point, which means at least
20 or 21 years old. Rather than confront her roommate, she did what most of my
residents do (they are much younger though) and ran to the hall director.
Mediation was held, Blankmeyer was offered a new room or a single, and she was
even allowed to finish her degree at home instead of staying on-campus.
Anyone hazard a guess as to how the little brat decided? To whine about
it some more, complain that she had to move into a residence hall with a party
reputation (which halls don’t have this?) or into a teeny-tiny space that was once a lounge. All this stress caused her
to fall into a deep depression, although she had a history of it prior to
attending college. Her parents said her hall director did nothing to help her—of
course they did. Parents do not believe the hall personnel do anything unless
they bow to their children’s feet and build them their own deluxe room with a
private bathroom.
In the end, Blankmeyer left Stonehill and completed her degree at home. I
bet the hall director breathed a sigh of relief when she moved out. I am sorry
Blankmeyer, the supposed stress you endured at the hand of the evil hall
director (note: sarcasm) does not entitle you to $150,000 in damages. The only
reason you are suing is because your parents are too dumb to realize that this
is what college entails—you will like some of the people you interact with and
others you will grow to hate. Plus, your family must have money to burn if they
bothered to hire an attorney to sue for your roommate having sex.
Poor taste and inconsiderate actions is what this case boils down to. Was Blankmeyer’s roommate nasty? Absolutely! Should she have been kicked out of the hall for this behavior? No. I am sure the hall director dictated a compromise and maybe even recompleted a roommate agreement detailing that no one has sex in the room while the other roommate is there. Common sense? Yes, but not all residents have the mental wherewithal to understand common decency. However, hall directors are not the moral police. They cannot prevent every uncomfortable situation from happening. Residents: start learning to be assertive and stop expecting professional staff, mommy and daddy, and the courts to solve your problems.
Poor taste and inconsiderate actions is what this case boils down to. Was Blankmeyer’s roommate nasty? Absolutely! Should she have been kicked out of the hall for this behavior? No. I am sure the hall director dictated a compromise and maybe even recompleted a roommate agreement detailing that no one has sex in the room while the other roommate is there. Common sense? Yes, but not all residents have the mental wherewithal to understand common decency. However, hall directors are not the moral police. They cannot prevent every uncomfortable situation from happening. Residents: start learning to be assertive and stop expecting professional staff, mommy and daddy, and the courts to solve your problems.
Grow up!
well...
ReplyDeletei see your point. however.
it may be that the roommate was violating policy; most sexual harassment policies would probably include this behavior under voyeurism. for example, if a resident looks up porn in a public computer lab, that is against policy. if a resident masturbates in front of their roommate, same thing. if the roommate told Sexy McSexalot to cut it out, or asked that she not have erotic webcam sessions while she was in the room then yes, this was against (most) harassment policies.