Each semester some students are put on deferred eviction for violating the Residence Life code of conduct, yet some say they were wrongly accused of any misconduct.
Chris Fauntleroy, an undeclared freshman, said he was placed on deferred eviction because his dorm room in Hopi Lodge smelled like marijuana. He said one day last semester he heard a knock on his dorm room door, and opened it to find University of Arizona Police Department officers waiting outside. The officers came in because they said the room smelled marijuana. After they searched his room and found nothing, Fauntleroy said he was still punished and placed on deferred eviction.
Another student claimed a similar thing happened to her. Angelica Luczak, a nutritional sciences freshman, said she wasn’t even in her dorm when officers said they smelled marijuana. She said one day while she was in class, UAPD officers came and knocked on her door, and her roommate opened it for them. When she got back, she was informed by her hall’s resident assistant that she had been written up, and soon after she was placed on deferred eviction.
“Just because it allegedly smelled like weed I got put on deferred eviction,” Luczak said.
Joey Lapidus, an undeclared freshman, said he was in a situation where he also felt he was punished unfairly. He said he was in a friend’s dorm room where there was marijuana present, and although he himself did not possess any, he was written up and placed on deferred eviction.
“We don’t have anything to do with Residence Life punishments,” said Juan Alvarez, UAPD’s public information officer. Alvarez said that if they find sufficient evidence of a student smoking marijuana, then that student will be punished in congruence with Arizona law.
The officers who respond to marijuana complaints within the dorms look for some specific signs of a student smoking marijuana. These may include the scent of marijuana, bloodshot eyes, leftover residue in the mouth, a discoloration of the tongue and associated paraphernalia like pipes, papers and containers, Alvarez said. Although the officers look for certain signs, Alvarez said that “it’s hard to generalize because every person reacts (to marijuana) differently.”
Jim Van Arsdel, assistant vice president of Student Affairs and University Housing, said Residence Life is not going out of its way to look for students that violate the code of conduct, but if a violation occurs, they will pursue it.
According to Van Arsdel, a student can be punished and evicted from their residence hall for a number of reasons. Some violations like dealing drugs, possessing a weapon or stealing or tampering with fire safety mechanisms can result in an immediate eviction.
“Very seldom does this occur,” Van Arsdel said.
The reason students are placed on deferred eviction and not kicked out immediately, he said, is because in most cases, there is a potential opportunity for the students to learn from their mistakes, so deferred eviction may act as a warning.
“Do it again and you’re out,” Van Arsdel said.
