Res Life tells RA to quit or be fired

Jennifer Holmes Arizona Daily Wildcat Architecture freshman Irazmi Perez surveys the comments and notes written to Manzanita-Mohave Resident Assistant Paul Graziano yesterday. Graziano has been given the ultimatum to resign or be fired because he returned to the dorm after consuming alcohol. There has been support from RAs and hall residents for Graziano.

Paul Graziano, who was also an RA at Manzanita-Mohave last year, has been ordered to move out by tonight, Hall Director Jordan Farrow said.

Although his picture still hung yesterday in the Manzanita-Mohave lobby under a sign indicating that he was on duty, Farrow said Graziano was no longer an RA in the dorm.

Farrow refused to comment further on the situation.

Graziano, a 20-year-old communication junior, said yesterday that he admits to violating the rules and that Residence Life officials told him he would be fired if he does not resign.

"I broke a policy," he said. "I take full responsibility for my actions of breaking that policy, but I do not feel the crime warrants the punishment."

The "crime," according to Graziano, is that he drank two beers at an off-campus party two weeks ago and then returned to the hall.

"I came back to the hall not inebriated," he said. "Apparently, someone smelled alcohol on me, talked to Jordan (Farrow) and it went from there."

No Manzanita-Mohave residents were present at the party, Graziano said, but ex-residents were.

Graziano said Farrow sent him a letter Wednesday stating that Residence Life would terminate him if he did not resign.

While no papers have been signed, Graziano said he has orally agreed to resign.

Residence Life Director Jim Van Arsdel declined to comment about Graziano's situation.

"It's a personnel issue," Van Arsdel said.

But he did answer general questions about Residence Life policies.

"We live in a world where if you're going to be a role model, you're going to be a role model," Van Arsdel said. "If students see you as a role model, they're going to take note. It's life in a fishbowl, and it's something that we have to expect."

He said a number of factors must be considered when disciplining an RA for alcohol violations.

"What condition does the RA come home in? Are residents there?" he said.

A Manzanita-Mohave RA, who requested that her name be kept confidential, said Graziano was "totally sober" that night. She also confirmed that a fellow RA in Manzanita-Mohave reported Graziano to Farrow.

"I think it's a huge loss for the residents and the staff at Manzi-Mo," she said. "The whole time I've been on campus, I've never known anyone who's a better RA than Paul. He's the rock that everyone leans on."

Graziano said unless he is allowed to keep his job, he will move in with two former residents in an off-campus house. He has already begun taking posters and decorations off the wall in his room, saying it's "in preparation."

Dawn Morford, vice president for programming at the University of Arizona's Residence Hall Association, said she is Graziano's friend and worked with him when she was an RA last year in the hall.

Morford said she doesn't support Residence Life's actions.

"I'm very, very upset about this," she said. "I think that whatever people do off campus on their own time is their own business."

David J. Cieslak can be reached via e-mail at David.J.Cieslak@wildcat.arizona.edu.