The Office of Residential Living is responsible for ensuring student safety, health and well-being. Although these three words are subject to different interpretations, Residential Living proudly claims on its website that the organization’s mission is “to help students create homes away from homes and become part of their community here on campus.” During this week’s ricin scare in McCarthy Hall, however, Residential Living failed to live up to its duties.

A Zero-Transparency Policy

As a resident of McCarthy Hall’s sixth floor, I was one of the 18 to 20 students who were directly affected by Tuesday’s incident. We were told to evacuate from our rooms at 11:30 a.m. and were denied access for the next 28 hours. Many of us did not bring personal belongings such as clothes, toiletries, eyeglasses, laptops and medicine.

The most frustrating part, however, was being left clueless. During the investigation period, Residential Living sent out a few emails, none of which contained information about the nature and duration of the event. After making several phone calls to Residential Living, I had to speak with at least three different people each time, only to hear that they did not receive any updates from the FBI.

I recognize that the federal agency-led investigation was still taking place at the time. Regardless, it is Residential Living’s job to bridge the gap between law enforcement officials and students. It is Residential Living’s responsibility to reduce student anxiety and fear in a time of crisis. Instead of repeating, “We do not have any information,” Resident Living should have provided at least a rough timeline of the investigation so that students could have planned or revised their schedules accordingly.

Jay Gruber’s latest email suggests that the investigation clearly required at least 24 hours to test for ricin exposure. Yet students were initially told that they could remain in the building, then they were suddenly removed from their rooms “for a few hours,” when in reality they were to have no shelter on campus for the remainder of the night.

What Community?

Slowly realizing that I might not have access to my room before class at 2:00 p.m., I emailed my academic dean Wednesday morning to let her know about my situation. I then found out that she was not made aware of how her students were still denied access to their rooms in McCarthy, nor that they had been housed at the Savoy Hotel, about a 30-minute walk from the Southwest Quad.

The media reported as if the situation had been cleared, and no school newspaper wrote about how a group of students was wandering around campus without basic living necessities.

We desperately waited for updates but received only one direct email from McCarthy’s community director, in which she passed on the information about the March Madness tournament. I also did not hear from my RA until I reached out first. It seemed as though the rest of the university community was functioning just fine — and it really was.

A Question of Attitude

Throughout the evacuation period, Residential Living staff exhibited a dismissive attitude toward the displaced students. The level of mental and physical exhaustion increased as time passed by, but no one from Residential Living reached out to help us cope with this unexpected amount of stress. We were always the ones trying to reach out to them. Some of us had midterms, job application deadlines and academic commitments, but these concerns were completely ignored under the name of “safety,” though the entire university community had already been told that no immediate threat existed.

Whenever I attempted to speak to Residential Living staff, I was treated like a child who just wanted to complain. Finally, when I stopped by the McCarthy community director’s office around 3:30 p.m. Wednesday and asked when the investigation would end, she did not conceal her annoyance and simply said, “Check your email.”

The email announcing the end of investigation was sent at 3:20 p.m. I wonder if it was really that difficult for her to say something like, “It’s all clear. Go and get some rest.” Residential Living staff wanted to exercise their authority and expected us to obey throughout the whole process, but none of them were willing to hear what we had to say, let alone express any sympathy.

Engage, Not Manage

Positions of importance at Residential Living require serious leadership skills. Effective leadership, however, does not result from mere management by order. It results from earning others’ respect through communication, engagement and — most importantly — genuine attempts to make decisions for the sake of well-being.

In every sense, Residential Living failed to demonstrate leadership during the ricin scare. Yes, it was an unexpected and chaotic situation for us all, but strong leadership should shine in times of crisis. As professionals, Residential Living staff need to better equip themselves to deal with unpredicted events, while exhibiting a more open, positive and caring attitude toward students who are thrown into such a disruptive situation simply by “bad luck.”

DAYE SHIM LEE is a senior in the School of Foreign Service.