While most of New Orleans is cleaning up after the hurricane, Residential Life is working hard to keep Loyola clean of student vandalism and residence halls free of fines.

According to Amy Boyle, the associate director of Residential Life, no community fines have been calculated as of now. However, there have still been issues with students vandalizing university property this semester.

“There have been incidents of vandalism in all three residence halls; however, they have been isolated,” said Boyle in an email. “Issues include written profanity, vandalized bulletin boards and larger ticket items such as two damaged televisions in Buddig Hall.”

Boyle stated that vandalism does occur on completely random occasions, and it is still too early in the semester to determine anything concrete.

In the event that fines do need to cover for serious damages, Boyle says that the amount of fines are determined by what is damaged, how badly it is damaged and whether or not Residential Life can find out which students are causing the damages.

“Vandalism fines are typically $50 plus parts and labor,” said Boyle. “Damages that occur to normal wear and tear are not charged to individual students or the community. If it is determined that damages result from vandalism or carelessness caused by the student, fees are assessed as appropriate.”

Tian Covington, the fourth floor residential assistant for Buddig Hall, says that implementing fines for damages is completely determined by Residential Life by way of a judicial process.

“For the RAs, we report it, and it goes through the different ResLife directors,” Covington said. “Depending on the seriousness of it, it goes through the SGA judicial process, which can have you in front of a hearing of your peers, Robert Reed and so on and so forth.”

Covington also said that she is very proud of her floor for being well-behaved and mature enough to not cause any damages to anything that is located on the fourth floor.

Boyle says that she wants all of the students to help keep the campus clean by asking them to adopt the mantra of “see something, say something” and to take a stand for what is right for any future occurrences of vandalism during their time at Loyola.

“I challenge students to take ownership of their rooms, floor, bathrooms and common areas,” said Boyle. “Students have to lead their peers in the thought that there are standards of civility, respect and pride in one’s living space. It takes all of us to be successful.”

Burke Bishop can be reached at [email protected]