The Award Winning Newspaper Of Pace University

THE PACE CHRONICLE

The Award Winning Newspaper Of Pace University

THE PACE CHRONICLE

The Award Winning Newspaper Of Pace University

THE PACE CHRONICLE

Photo Courtesy of Pace Athletics.
Softball Sweeps Doubleheader vs Georgian Court
Dylan Brown, Managing Editor • March 20, 2024

LAKEWOOD, N.J.- Pace picked up two road wins versus Georgian Court University yesterday afternoon. Game 1 went Pace's way with a final score...

Front of Miller Hall. Photo Courtesy of webpage.pace.edu
President Krislov on Campus Involvement and School-Town Relations
Dylan Brown, Managing Editor • March 18, 2024

This article is on the topic of on-campus involvement and school/town relations. For the article about academics, the article about student life,...

Outside of the Office of SGA
Diaz And Tracey Wins 2024 SGA Election
Pace Chronicle StaffMarch 15, 2024

Incumbent President Nick Diaz and Vice President Paris Tracey have won reelection to their respective offices in the Student Government Association....

An Uphill Battle: Day in the Life of an RA

An+Uphill+Battle%3A+Day+in+the+Life+of+an+RA

Many will be called, but few will be chosen. Damnation from social circles, constant stress, a busy schedule and the guarantee that residents will talk behind your back: this is the life of a Resident Assistant (RA).

RAs are universally complained about, whether those complaints are justified are up for debate, but no group of RAs are targeted more for critique than the townhouse RAs. These are the students who have knowingly signed up to thanklessly tame the beast known as townhouse parties. What kind of person would choose to take on such a task?

Kelly Fisher, a senior biology major, is a returning townhouse RA from last year. She was inspired to become an RA after her RA in Dow Hall brought her into the community.

“It’s really overlooked at the townhouses. Our goal is to make it more of a community,” said Fisher.

When Fisher was living in Dow Hall, she was in a particular section that was easy to forget about. She was relatively shy and had difficulty breaking into the social atmosphere of the Hall, until her RA Patrick Corr made an effort to introduce her to the community and get integrated with the social life at the Hall.

“There’s a misconception that RAs are purely a disciplinary role,” said senior criminal justice major Joseph Cuccaro, another townhouse RA for this year. “The focus is on program planning and building community.”

Most townhouse residents are not aware of programming done in the area because the nature of the townhouses make it difficult to engage the community.

“Most people live in a house with their friends, they don’t need an excuse to mingle with the community,” said Cuccaro. The townhouses also lack a common area found in dorms such as Martin, North, Valley or Dow. The only indoor locations are individual houses. Townhouse RAs typically find it more difficult to get residents to show up to an open event than getting people to leave a late-night party.

Townhouse parties are a separate beast, but have gotten more tamable in recent years after RAs have become more upfront with policy.

“We try to give people warnings,” said Fisher.

Townhouse parties generally end at 1 a.m. once quiet hours take effect. These days, houses are given a heads up when closing time nears, but that wasn’t always the case.

“Nobody used to get warnings, you’d just get written up,” said fifth-year criminal justice and biology major Brian Keegan, who’s living in the townhouses for the third consecutive year this semester. “Residents are more open about what they’re doing, which makes it easier to keep everything safe, but occasionally it gets more chaotic.”

Being an RA means agreeing to serve the community and making it a friendlier place to live, but it also requires surrendering some pleasantries, such as your name.

“You’re no longer whoever you are. I’m not Moley anymore, people introduce me as ‘this is my RA, Moley,” said junior biological psychology major Moley Fahnbulleh, an RA in Martin Hall this year. Fahnbulleh has noticed that students act differently once they’re aware of his position.

“There’s an expectation that you’re supposed to be the moral compass in every situation,” said Fahnbulleh, “trying to live to that expectation can be very stressful, you burn out.”

Sometimes that expectation exceeds Pace’s boundaries and leads to many misconceptions. Some residents falsely believe RAs have the jurisdiction to write-up underage residents if they’re sighted at bars.

RAs also have to frequently subject themselves to stressful situations, especially confronting rowdy individuals who refuse to leave when asked.

“Residents almost never put up resistance when we ask them to do something,” said Fisher “it’s almost always freshmen students and especially people who live off campus.”

Most of these disputes typically end in an argument or notification of a write-up, but sometimes the story can be a bit more frightening.

Fahnbulleh described a high-stress situation he encountered while being an RA in Hillside where he believed he was going to get attacked by a group of rowdy residents.

“I had asked them to leave the building because it was finals week and they were being very loud and they started saying I was being very disrespectful, one of them said ‘fight,’” said Fahnbulleh. The situation was eventually defused with the help of a fellow RA, but could’ve very easily gotten out-of-hand.

Cuccaro and Fisher have never had a life-threatening encounter, but have dealt with lesser versions of high-stress situations. Cuccaro has had a door closed behind him after entering a house and Fisher described several instances of houses blatantly ignoring her instructions.

However, neither regrets becoming an RA in the first place. They both believe it has contributed to their growth as an individual.

Fisher has gained new life experiences that she was unaware of before. She was given the opportunity to help a resident last year who had been going through a rough spot during their academic career.

“I became an RA because I want to help people, as corny as that sounds,” said Fisher.

Cuccaro has used his experience as an RA to confirm his career goal of becoming a social worker. It has also helped his development as a student leader.

“I tripled the number of people I know, I’ve developed my leadership ability and I’ve gotten a lot of experience with programming and interacting with people,” said Cuccaro.

Being Resident Assistants, especially at the townhouses, can be a thankless job, but it has to be done by someone. The Pace community should take comfort knowing that the group of people looking out for them is just like you: students trying to create a campus and atmosphere where everyone feels at home.

Leave a Comment
Donate to THE PACE CHRONICLE

Your donation supports independent, student-run journalism at Pace University. Support the Pace Chronicle to help cover publishing costs.

About the Contributor
Arthur Augustyn, Feature Editor
Arthur is the type of guy who says what everyone is thinking, but lacks the filter most people have to avoid offending others. He values honesty and gets straight to the point. His directness can be harsh but it ensures that any words of praise are genuine. Arthur got his roots of honesty by writing movie and video game reviews throughout High School. He’s currently the Feature Editor for The Pace Chronicle but still jumps at the opportunity to share his opinion on the latest film or game. Arthur loves story-telling and debating. He hopes to write features that reflect his interest by either sharing a student’s interesting life or presenting two sides of an issue and letting readers decide where they stand. He can be reached at [email protected]
Donate to THE PACE CHRONICLE

Comments (0)

All THE PACE CHRONICLE Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *