Baker University’s rich atmosphere of distinct personalities and different backgrounds also happens to be the main cause of disputes between roommates this year.

Freshman year can be a difficult time for many students. Moving away from home and learning to live in the same room with a stranger can be overwhelming. The student development office at Baker has come up with an effective protocol designed to help students deal with any sort of roommate conflict that may arise.

Daniel Easton, area coordinator and graduate assistant, said the disagreements that take place between roommates change as the student gets older. Easton said conflicts during the first year have a lot to do with the transition into college.

"Most of the conflicts deal with different standards of living," Easton said. "This may be the first time they have had to clean a bathroom or have been expected to do chores."<br/>Easton said by the third or fourth year in college, conflicts between roommates usually are more interpersonal.Easton said by the third or fourth year in college, conflicts between roommates usually are more interpersonal.
Easton said by the third or fourth year in college, conflicts between roommates usually are more interpersonal.

Easton said he knows of only one instance this year where a student has had to move because of the inability to resolve a conflict, which was in Irwin Hall.

Easton said it is not too challenging to get a student moved into another living space.

Easton does not personally witness very many of the conflicts because of the chain-of-command that is set in place. He said the students are expected to try and remedy the problem before involving the resident adviser or himself.

“We want to empower the students to come up with their own solution to the problem,” he said.

If an agreement cannot be reached between the students, the resident adviser can step in to mediate the problem as a neutral party. The resident advisers are instructed to use active listening skills and incorporate the use of “I” statements, Easton said.

“The use of ‘I’ statements is one of the most useful rules we have set during a mediation because it opens up the lines of communication,” he said.

Junior Di-Tu Dissassa is the senior resident assistant at Irwin and in her second year as an RA.

Dissassa said she has had no conflicts in her hall this year, but a few conflicts appeared in other parts of the residence hall.

She said the roommate issues she deals with are due to different personalities rather than different standards of living. Freshmen definitely seem to have the most conflicts, Dissassa said.

“The second year, you get to pick your roommate, and it usually works out,” she said.

Freshman Matt Ingram lives in Gessner Hall. Ingram said he has been having problems with his roommate’s mess.

He said his roommate leaves dirty laundry on the floor of their room. Ingram said his roommate also is not always considerate of the fact that other people live with him, and he will take a long time in the shower.

His roommate is hardly ever in the room, so Ingram occasionally will leave him notes.

Ingram said he has not felt the need to talk to the resident adviser but would feel comfortable approaching him if he needed to.<br/>Ingram said he thinks roommate conflicts are a pretty common occurrence among the freshman class.Ingram said he thinks roommate conflicts are a pretty common occurrence among the freshman class.
Ingram said he thinks roommate conflicts are a pretty common occurrence among the freshman class.

“Most of us are not used to living with others,” he said. “We just do our own thing and don’t think about the people that live with us.”