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- Dealing with Vandalism -

A. Two quick ideas:

1--Do a board that is easy to fix. If the board is vandalized, but no one really notices it because you "recover" quickly, it may stop on its own.  If they get no thrill from annoying you then they will likely stop.

2--Choose a topic that requires their involvement--opinions from floor members tend to make the floor members vandalize it less.

An idea that incorporates both is to do a Current Events board with the age old agree or disagree format--for the background of the board, use newspaper either campus news or national or both. Select a topic that your residents will have an opinion about. Since you are in California, you could pick something about energy or environment since the power shortage is all over the news.--or if you campus is political, select a topic like Clinton's Pardons, Estate Taxes, GW's Tax Cut, Military Spending, Funding the Space Program, etc.

Put the topic in big letters either purchased or cut out in red construction paper, underneath the title separate the board into 2 columns with a strip of construction paper (or border) and label the 2 columns Agree or Disagree or Vote Yes/Vote No, Ethical/Unethical, spend more/spend less...depending on the topic you select.  Pass out note cards, or attach them to the board so residents can write out their opinions and have enough push pins on the board so they can post their opinions.

Residents are less likely to vandalize something that they can/have/could participate in.

Please if you try this, let me know how it works. And remember, repair quickly and show no aggravation...the vandals will likely stop once they see it doesn't matter.

Sincerely, Holly E. Habicht, RLC Georgia Tech 

A. Unfortunately, this happens to often where residents don't respect their community.

I have a couple of ideas for you:

1.  Leave it ripped down but put up a simple sign in the middle of the destroyed bulletin board that talks about community and respect.  This sometimes works.

2.  Leave it ripped down but try to put paper "band-aids" on it to show that your bulletin board has feelings and that you are trying to keep it up.

3.  Take it all down and do not put a bulletin board up until you can talk to your floor in a floor meeting to discuss the problem.

4.  Take it all down but put up a sign that the bulletin board is on hiatus until the community can respect it.

5.  Try a new bulletin board entitled "Tear Me Down" and put up different things that don't get respect.

I hope that gives you some ideas to motivate you to address the issue in a very direct way.  Good luck and let me know if I can be of any other assistance.

Ray Gasser
Assistant Director of Residential Life for Student Development
Indiana State University

A. Unfortunately respect is not something that can be just gained overnight, it is a process.  One of the most effective things I have seen an RA on our campus do was to have those people affected by the vandalism or problem directly discuss at a floor meeting, this becomes more difficult if the perpetrator is a member of a different part of the facility, i.e. another floor or from outside of the building.  (More info might be helpful in that context), but nonetheless, an accountability meeting might be beneficial to the group.  The best example occurred when the students were leaving the
bathroom dirty.  After weeks of frustration the RA decided to invite the housekeeper from the floor to a floor meeting to discuss how this effected the housekeeper.  The floor got to meet the housekeeper out of their element, at a floor meeting and discuss the pride they take in the job they
do.  You may want to parallel this idea by having a discussion with the floor, inviting your RD and share the fact that this is an expectation of the job and how you like to have the board look good for the students.

I am a firm believer in honest discussion and sharing how people are affected by the behaviors of others.  You might be impressed how a civil conversation with others might work.   There are other ways to handle this situation, such as not decorating the boards, etc.  But I think leaving a bb
blank only shows that the resident responsible for ripping them down has "won"...  don't give in.  By active in your job and doing the right thing!

Good luck and keep up the good work!
Tom Ellett - Director of Residence Life
Syracuse university