This past Charity Week, the tradition of tuck-ins took place in on-campus housing, Old Mill and the University Place Condominiums.
“You can also purchase a themed Tuck-in for your friends in the trad dorms, Clark, Student Apps, Condos, and Old Mill. They run from 8:00 to midnight all week,” said Dr. Gregory Roper, dean of students, in his pre-Charity Week email on Sunday, Oct. 15.
However, some of the students living in the condos where the tuck-ins occurred were fined by the local homeowner association for disruptive behavior.
An undergraduate condo resident who requested to remain anonymous spoke to The Cor Chronicle about the hefty fine their condo received for a tuck-in. The identity of the resident is known to The Cor Chronicle. A tuck-in was purchased for the resident’s roommate, and as a result, the resident and their roommates were fined $1,000 by the HOA for disruptive behavior.
Quiet hours in the condos do not begin until 11:00 p.m., which is notably before tuck-ins end. However, condo residents can still be fined for disruptive behavior at any time. Since the tuck-in occurred slightly before 11:00 p.m., they were fined for disruptive behavior instead of breaking quiet hours.
“It was termed as a ‘disruptive gathering’ because the incident was at 10:50 and quiet hours are not until 11:00,” said the resident.
Other condo residents who were fined as a result of tuck-ins declined to comment.
Because the fine was caused by a school sanctioned event the resident and their roommates had no knowledge of, they met with Roper to discuss the issue, hoping to get the fine removed.
The resident said, “I think that in this case, since it was a school event, and the school sanctioned it in the condos and in the Mill, then they should hopefully be able to do something.”
The university condominiums are private property, of which the University of Dallas has no direct control.
“I have no power to get any fines expunged. It’s the HOA’s private property, and they have their own private processes,” said Roper. Roper did not indicate there were any plans for the school to pay the fine in part or in full.
Of note, the university’s Student Code of Conduct applies to all students living in the condominiums. Students that violate the code of conduct, regardless of whether they are on or off campus, are subject to punishment by the university.
“When there are violations of the Student Handbook on or off campus, it is in the power of the Office of Student Affairs to deal with those violations,” said Roper.
The condos encourage their residents to reach out to UD in matters regarding UD students.
“The manager has a complete list of unit owners and a 24-hour connection to UD staff. In addition, you can report inappropriate student behavior directly to UD,” says the official condos guidelines. “The university is required to investigate all formal complaints.”
Joe Meyers, politics graduate student and condo resident, said, “[Evidently now, students] can get fined by UD for [their] behavior over here, which is realistically extending the jurisdiction of campus [into the condos] in some way — not essentially, but the school certainly has some form of jurisdiction here, because you can [now] face repercussions [from the administration] for your actions [off-campus].”
Meyers and his roommates have been issued fines by the HOA for events taking place outside their condo, some of which they were not involved with. According to Meyers, not all rules are applied equally.
“Both the HOA and [UD] need to define their relationship with each other and to be [more] systematic in the way that discipline is meted out,” said Meyers.
According to Roper, in the collective memory of UD staff and members of the HOA, tuck-ins have not been problematic in the past. Yet this year, they became disruptive.
“We’ve never had a complaint in any memories of the staff of [tuck-ins] in the past. I’m not sure why there were complaints this year,” said Roper, “So I don’t see that there’s any reasonable expectation that the university should have known that [tuck-ins] would cause any problems.”
Under the 2023- 2024 Student Handbook, disruptive and disorderly conduct is punishable on or off campus by OSA.
From the Student Handbook: “The following are examples of misconduct that could occur on- or off-campus. This list is not all-inclusive but is intended to provide examples of behaviors that may result in disciplinary action under the Student Code of Conduct […] Disruptive, disorderly, or malicious behavior.”
Although the condos deemed the tuck-ins to be disruptive behavior, whether or not it was in violation of the Student Code of Conduct has not been determined by OSA.
“I don’t know if there’s a potential violation. No one has presented the evidence yet, so far,” said Roper.
When asked, Roper did not indicate that there was any ongoing investigation into the incident for violations of the Code of Conduct.
One recourse against fines for those living in the condos is an appeal to their respective landlord or landlady, but for the resident and their roommates, this option is not viable.
The resident said, “Our landlady is very far removed, and she doesn’t really care, so it’s not a very feasible option.”
There is a possibility that tuck-ins might have to be banned from occurring off-campus in the future.
“I think it’s unfortunate. I know that students have always enjoyed the tradition of tuck-ins – they came long after my time, so I’ve never experienced one, and I’m usually home in bed by the time they’re happening. I know the students really love them. I think that if we can keep the fun, that’s great,” said Roper. “If the HOA wishes us never to do tuck-ins over in the condos again, I think we have to accept that — that’s their private property. If they don’t want us having fun over there with tuck-ins we have to respect that.”
As of Monday, Oct. 30, there has been no resolution to the resident’s fines.