Resident Assistants get hired to deal with students living on-campus at their worst. When university breaks happen, it’s up to the RAs to go through every room and make sure the building is closed properly. Doors must be locked and windows must be shut. During these closing shifts, RAs come across everything from the weird to the gross.

A few RAs agreed to tell The Oakland Post some of the most outlandish things they’ve encountered throughout their time. 

Jewel Hohman is a third year RA who has two years in Hamlin Hall and one year in Hill House. As a veteran RA, she has found many weird objects that students left behind in their rooms.

Upon closing the residence halls for the summer, there was a mysterious note found on a student’s desk.  The note read: “This is all I have left after OU tuition was raised.” The note was not left by itself. With it was also a piece of gum as well as 17 cents found. 

Second year RA Richard Williamson has been helping the freshmen in Hamlin Hall this academic year. It is no mystery that freshman tend to hide things in very inconspicuous spots throughout the residence halls.

“I walked into my lounge on six South and noticed a tile was moved aside,” Williamson said. “I stood up on a chair to move it back and as I looked up at the tile, I noticed at least two dozen of those little green New Testament bibles the old guys hand out. I decided to keep them up there, they might still be there.”

He also found a car tire being used as a seat in one of the rooms.

“We wouldn’t normally check that sort of thing, but it seemed odd at the time,” Williamson said. “My best guess is they were using it as a seat. But this was a pretty hefty tire, and I don’t know how they got it in without someone noticing or saying anything.”

The last thing the second year RA noticed was an Oakland University Police Department traffic cone in a very peculiar spot. These students living there had decided to decorate their toilet with a bright orange traffic cone, as they sat it right on top of the toilet tank.

One RA who asked to remain anonymous out of respect for their resident found an air conditioner the size of a dresser inside one of the rooms. The RA had to write a citation for the students. But the question remains, how did the students move in with a massive air conditioner without being noticed?

Another anonymous RA managed to find 12 empty bottles of wine inside of a room, which totals to around 304.8 ounces of wine consumed in presumably one room. This RA also had to write citations for these residents.

So remember, hide your things when moving out for a break. Or we could just follow the rules (but that would be too easy, wouldn’t it?)