Students at Syracuse University do not treat the campus with respect. Residence halls, specifically freshman halls, are frequently ravaged. The steps to The Mount are often littered with beer cans. Signs and other objects are stolen from all over campus. Simply put, this type of behavior needs to stop.

The effects of this behavior infringes upon the quality of life for others and leaves our community trashed. Flint Hall, where I live, has had a myriad of problems: disgusting bathrooms with pumpkins and mold in the showers, bodily fluids on the floor, broken windows and yelling in the middle of the night. Other SU dorms have had property destroyed and even holes punctured in the walls. 

SU is not a playground. You cannot just run around and act as you please. Students don’t want to step around beer cans or puddles of who-knows-what on their way to class every morning.

Sophomore Alex Ruppe, a Resident Advisor in Flint Hall, said he has seen countless instances of destruction on his floor including broken exit signs, holes punched in walls and urine and vomit all over bathroom floors. He attributes these instances to a variety of reasons.

“For some people, it’s their first taste of freedom. So they are able to do whatever they want, whenever they want, and that can be kind of a big thing for some people,” he said. “When people are trying to make jokes and go too far, that has caused destruction of both people and actual physical things.” 

There’s nothing wrong with having fun in dorm halls and living it up during your college experience. But there are lines that shouldn’t be crossed. The mess in bathrooms is disgusting and affects everyone living on the floor. There’s a way to have fun and be courteous at the same time, yet many students fail to find this balance.

Freshman Samy Berman, a resident in Flint Hall, said she has experienced both the disgusting bathrooms and disruptive behavior late at night. She often hears yelling, running and people turning her doorknob to see if it’s unlocked or not, she said.

“I find myself not coming to the dorm hall if I want peace and quiet, which shouldn’t be the case,” she said. “I find myself going somewhere that’s not my room because I can’t be productive in my own living space because of the distractions.”

Similar to clean bathrooms, peace and quiet in a living space is a very low bar to set for courtesy standards. When chaos in the halls or destruction of bathrooms happens, it may fall on the shoulders of fellow students to step in and stop the behavior, especially if a resident advisor isn’t around. But Berman said she finds stepping in difficult because she doesn’t want to be the “bad guy,” she said. 

“I feel very aggravated, because a lot of the students that are sleeping or doing work don’t want to come out and be the bad guy and act like an RA,” she said. “A lot of the time (students) are put in situations where we act like RAs just because we’re upset and want some peace and quiet.”

Students shouldn’t even have to be put in these situations where they need to act like authority figures. Their peers should be respectful in the first place.

We should not have to deal with the consequences of others who wreak havoc and cause destruction on campus. Students should be able to manage having fun in their dorms while still remaining courteous to others. For many students, it’s the first time moving away from home, and that breath of fresh air is fantastic. But this freedom shouldn’t be abused, especially not at the cost of others’ quality of life.  

John Hepp is a freshman sports analytics major. His column appears biweekly. He can be reached at jwhepp@syr.edu. 

Published on November 15, 2021 at 9:22 pm