UPDATE: As of 7 p.m. March 11, Keith said the investigation has concluded and results are being shared with "appropriate departments.
"Those previously on administrative leave will be reinstated to their positions," Keith wrote in an email to The Daily.
The residents of Walker Tower learned Monday their resident advisers would be unavailable for the week following an ongoing investigation into an unspecified event involving some of the tower's RAs.
An anonymous Walker RA said in a message to The Daily the event under investigation only involved a few RAs, but all 24 Walker RAs were placed on administrative leave.
“This was an issue that was only involving a few people and has blown massively out of proportion, because certain people in pro-staff positions feel the need to be a hero,” the RA said in the message. “The fact that they placed all 24 of us and two RAs from other centers on administrative leave while our residents are running free with no supervision and (with) no one to help them through this extremely busy time of year is absolutely reckless. The threats they are making to our jobs, careers and housing are not even close to justified.”
Kesha Keith, OU’s director of media relations, emailed a statement to The Daily regarding the issue saying students will still be supported without their RAs.
“Residents will continue to be fully supported by other staff members,” Keith said in the statement. “Each affected resident has been given instruction to contact their community help desk for any assistance they may require.”
Walker Tower has the capacity to house approximately 1,400 freshmen, and RAs are provided housing on the floors of Walker to help assist and provide guidance for residents.
Sarah Stringfield, a freshman psychology and sociology double major and a resident of Walker Tower, said the Walker front desk has not effectively filled the void left by her RA.
“We don't have that one person to go to about anything anymore … it kind of feels like they left everybody out to drown,” Stringfield said. “It's just the front desk number, and that's it. So we can't really call the front like I do (with) my RA for general advice. I can't call the front desk for advice like, ‘I'm kind of stressed about school, can you help?’”
Stringfield also said seeing her RA’s room dark and closed off has been a tough adjustment.
“Normally she has her door open and her lights on, and they just haven’t (been),” Stringfield said. “The lights have always been off, the doors are always closed, which is really weird for her, because if she's in her room she normally has the door open and the lights on, and it's like an invitation for people to come in.”
Stringfield said another freshman living in Walker Tower sent a message to the tower’s GroupMe saying, “What if we all come together and try to find a way to make sure we keep the RA that we have.” This message led to others, including phrases like “Feed the fires of rebellion” and “Viva la revolution,” shown in screenshots sent to the Daily.
Residents began searching for ways to get their RAs back, Megan Jehlicka, a freshman and Walker Tower resident, said.
“A bunch of people went up (to the 12th floor of Walker) last night and then they did a conga line down to the bottom floor,” Jehlicka said. “People were opening the fire escape doors to set the alarms off so that the resident directors would have to turn them off, just because the residents are all pissed that they took our RAs away, so we’re pissing them off.”
The Daily also received screenshots indicating residents were making plans to set the alarms off every 30 minutes to make resident directors drive from Traditions to deactivate them.
Keith said in the statement that the university will respond and take action against any retaliation from the residents.
“Any retaliatory actions that violate housing policy would also be investigated and appropriate actions taken,” Keith said.
Jehlicka said the purpose behind the retaliation was to get the resident directors to see residents need their RAs.
“We don't want our RAs taken away and (the instigators) are just trying to make life hell for the RAs that are taking over site duty, so that they won't want to have to put up with the residents and they'll have to give us our RAs back,” Jehlicka said.
Stringfield said she enjoyed seeing the residents of Walker Tower band together to fight for their RAs.
“I thought it was cool how everyone came together so fast,” Stringfield said. “They wanted to cause enough chaos for the resident directors to be like, ‘Oh, these kids need their RAs back,’ and I thought it was cool that the freshmen of Walker Tower were able to actually come together on something when we're normally arguing in a group chat.”
The message sent to the residents Monday said the RAs would be unavailable for the week. Keith said in the statement the alternate accommodations will last until the conclusion of the investigation.
“As with administrative leave, living and pay accommodations will continue until the investigation is complete,” Keith said in the statement. “Next steps are dependent on the findings and will be addressed directly.”
This article was updated at 1:03 p.m. Thursday, March 11, with an image of Walker Tower.
