One of the better University practices as it pertains to student safety is the requirement that resident advisors hold coverage. According to Emma Myers, a fourth-year College student and co-chair for first year areas for Housing and Residence Life, coverage constitutes a shift between the hours of 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights during which time specific RAs are “on call” for issues that may arise for their residents.
This policy exists to ensure students who may find themselves in unsafe situations have someone accountable upon whom they can call. As Friday and Saturday nights are usually social evenings which may involve alcohol for many University students, having an RA on call can be extremely helpful. According to Myers, Housing and Residence Life also requires coverage on some specific occasions, such as Thursday night football games and the evening before Reading Days.
While a 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. shift more than bookends a general socializing timeline and certain extra days are built in to this system, it is insufficient to hold coverage on Friday and Saturday nights, and not on Thursday nights. Thursday nights are just as significant a time for socializing as Friday and Saturday nights, if not more so. Perhaps this is only in recent University history, but pregames, drinking, parties off-Grounds and students going to bars are all prevalent activities on a given Thursday night. If RAs are required to hold coverage in order to ensure the safety and well-being of their residents, why not include one of the biggest partying nights of the week?
Typically, RAs spend a lot of time in dorms, anyway — so in all likelihood there is some responsible representative of Housing and Residence Life nearby if a student is in trouble. Because of this, not having coverage probably hasn’t presented itself as too big an issue in the past. Myers notes that staffers have not expressed a need for coverage on Thursdays. Since issues have not yet arisen, perhaps requiring coverage would be more of a matter of formalizing existing practices. But Thursdays are undeniably a huge party night at U.Va., and extending coverage to reflect this could potentially benefit first-year students.
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