College Chronicles: Fire Alarm
Turns out there’s a lot to learn about living in a college residence hall.
Monkey continues to take things with admirable calm, but she’s had some trying moments these last weeks.
But first, in fun updates, she loves the comfy pillow sent by Kel and Paula! Thanks for that!!
And now…the rest of the story…
On Monday, two weeks ago, she’d been up until 6 a.m. with a headache, and had finally fallen asleep. At 10:30, the fire alarm began blaring. Annoying for most, being yanked out of a deep sleep, but if you have sensory issues, it’s panic-inducing. Monkey managed to grab most of the critical items, but forgot her glasses, and stayed in the suite long enough to be sure one roommate and guest were also out safely. (The other roommate wasn’t home.) Once outside the building, she called me. She couldn’t see well enough to know where other people had gone, and couldn’t tell what was going on; only that the sound was still clanging.
We stayed on the phone together until she was able to get back inside. When she got back to her apartment, two police officers and a Res. Life staffer were waiting.
“Do you live here?” one of the officers asked.
“Was your roommate here?”
Monkey answered their questions, despite being obviously overwhelmed, and made her way back to her bedroom.
Yessa, who had her on-campus class that afternoon, heard from my side of the conversation what was going on, and quickly gathered up all her things saying, “Tell Monkey we’ll be right over.”
We bundled out the door, stopped to pick Monkey up and grabbed some food in the cafeteria before seeing Yessa off to class.
Monkey slept in a chair in the lounge where I sit work during Yessa’s class, and after class, she came home with us to sleep for several more hours in a place where she felt completely safe.
In response to this incident we created a fire alarm check list.
Fire alarm list
To do:
Put on headphones
Put on glasses
To take:
Phone
ID
Purse
Shoes
Coat/Sweater
To remember:
Can exit out the fire door
Can climb out your bedroom window
Don’t feel rushed.
You are doing great.
She’ll also ask about fire drills when she has the chance, to see if she can be alerted ahead of time to limit the panic she has to endure.
It would be a simple story of Monkey persevering if the story ended there.
But it didn’t.
She received this letter a few days later:
“This letter is to notify you that I have received a report, dated January 30, 2023, that indicates
that you may have violated college policy. Specifically, you allegedly present in your suite when
a red alarm was activated from smoking As a result of this report, a meeting is required with our
office.
This letter is to advise that your meeting will be on Monday, February 13, 2023, at
2:30PM in Alexander Hall RD Office.
At the above scheduled time, you will have the opportunity to either agree or disagree with the
following charge(s):
As a student at Monroe Community College, you have the right to a judicial conference prior to a
formal hearing. This pre-hearing meeting aims to inform you of your rights as a student and of
the process followed during judicial proceedings. I would encourage you to access the current
edition of the Monroe Community College Student Code of Conduct so that you can review
applicable information prior to this meeting.
If you wish to bring an advisor, you have the right to have one. Your advisor may not speak on
your behalf, however, they may provide you with additional coaching and support. Your advisor
does not need to be in the same geographical location as you, however, they must have the
ability to be visible on the Zoom call.
Similarly, if you are registered with the Disabilities Officeand you believe you may require
accommodations to fully participate in the hearing process,please contact the Disabilities Office
(disabilityservices@monroecc.edu) and request support.
If you fail to attend this appointment, the case could be heard in your absence. Your level of
responsibility and sanctions will be determined regarding all charges brought against you. If you
have additional questions after reviewing this letter or you need to reschedule, please feel free to
contact: hall director email.”
Monkey might be introverted, but she has a spine of steel and a very strong sense of right and justice. To have her name linked with “Disciplinary hearing” has us shaking our heads. 😆 And she was also displeased with the incomplete information and errors in the letter. 😏
She quickly wrote to the hall director asking for more information and was this saying someone was smoking in their apartment?
He responded that the fire alarm did begin in their apartment, and video footage from the hallway seems to show smoke coming out of their apartment when the door was opened, and public safety suspects it was either cigarette or marijuana smoke.
She’s ticked about several things, including the idea that someone would put her health in danger with their smoking. We haven’t smelled smoke in the apartment, though we are now on high alert. We had already put an air purifier in Monkey’s bedroom and a large one out in the common room because something had been triggering her asthma. 😳
So say a prayer and send her good wishes for this afternoon. I will be attending as her “silent support,” so Lord knows you best be praying for me, too. We all know “silent” isn’t high on my list of personality traits.
As ever, she’s showing all her strength in dealing with all of this. She hasn’t stayed overnight at home since she moved on-campus. That rock solid self-identity is standing her in good stead as it has her whole life. It may not be easy, but she’s got this.
I’ll update later today about the hearing.
