Boston College Police Department apprehends three residence hall directors for smoking marijuana

Ryan Heffernan:

Three residence hall directors (RDs) resigned Friday in the wake of an investigation by the Office of Residential Life after they were allegedly caught smoking marijuana earlier in the week by a resident assistant, a source told The Heights.

An RA on duty in Vouté Hall called the Boston College Police Department on Wednesday at approximately 11:45 p.m. to report an "odor of marijuana," according to the campus police log.

"A consent search was conducted and a quantity of marijuana was confiscated," the log continued. Because the three - Lydia Alvita, Jason Cooper, and Corey Williams - weren't arrested, their names weren't included in the log, though a Heights source confirmed that the three were caught using marijuana in the building.

Henry Humphreys, director of Residential Life, refused to comment on the specifics behind the resignations.

"I'm not allowed to discuss employees' personnel issues," he said. "They did resign from their positions on Friday. They moved out. The last one moved out [yesterday]."

Attempts by The Heights to contact the three by phone and in person were unsuccessful.

Before moving into on-campus housing in the fall, students must sign a Conditions for Residency agreement, which in part states that, "Any member of the Boston College resident community illegally possessing, using, selling, providing, sharing or distributing drugs and/or drug paraphernalia will be subject to University judicial action which may result in suspension or dismissal from the residence halls and/or the University."

The policy is just one of many that RDs - who each oversee a handful of residence halls - are charged with enforcing. Alvita was responsible for Cheverus, Kostka, Medeiros, and Shaw halls; Cooper for Gabelli and Vouté halls and the Mods, and Williams for 66 Commonwealth Ave. and St. Ignatius Gate halls.

Students living in the buildings said they were told little about the incident. "My friends saw [Cooper] moving out and told me he had resigned," said Jessie Wolfe, a Vouté resident and A&S '06. "We're really in the dark about everything."

Humphreys said his office was working on a plan to fill the openings.

"We've started to come up with some ideas on how to best staff the buildings properly," he said. In the meantime, George Arey and Catherine-Mary Rivera, assistant directors of Residential Life, will manage the buildings and their RAs. Arey will supervise the Lower Campus halls, while Rivera will manage the four on Upper Campus.

Let's hope that the college does a better job of meeting its staffing needs in the future.