Silver or lead. That’s the expression that comes to mind when reading the demands some Syracuse University resident advisers presented to the Office of Student Living.

In a four-page letter that reads like a ransom note with an ominous threat of taking “alternative measures” if residence halls failed to comply within a week, a group of RAs shamelessly pounce on an opportunity that the coronavirus pandemic provided to skim off the top of SU’s coffers.

The letter includes a demand for an additional $1,000 or so in “hazard pay” for each RA this semester in addition to the free room-and-board. Hazard pay is compensation for performing dangerous physical labor, which the U.S. Department of Labor defines as any “duty that causes extreme physical discomfort and distress which is not adequately alleviated by protective devices.”

With the low rate of reported fatalities from COVID-19 among people ages 18 to 29 — roughly 0.5% — and the even lower fatality rate among the total population, RAs face an uphill battle convincing anyone that their duties rise to the level of “extreme physical discomfort.”

Stranger still, the letter sent to OSL contains demands that are seemingly unrelated to COVID-19. The writers of the letter demand more favorable financial aid deals and work-study eligibility, as well as the opportunity for RAs to sit in on OSL’s “decision making processes.” The letter also includes a demand for OSL to create a “safe place” for RAs to vent.

With such a smorgasbord of demands, is it possible some RAs have used the pandemic as leverage to settle long-standing grievances between RAs and OSL?

Under other circumstances, the hustle these RAs have shown for squeezing more money out of SU could be seen as commendable, but threatening vaguely-defined “alternative measures” and shoe-horning some demands in with other more relevant ones demonstrates a disconcertingly low level of sportsmanship.

Unless SU wants to be entirely student-run in 10 years, administrators will have to learn when not to bow to demands and power trips.

Cesar Gray is a senior political science and government major. His column appears bi-weekly. He can be reached at cfgray@syr.edu.

Published on September 15, 2020 at 9:10 pm