Homeless on a "Norbertine" Campus

The St. Norbert College president's cabinet is currently in the process of reviewing the current age requirement policy to decide whether or not some or all students under the age of seventeen should be allowed the privilege of living on campus.The topic of concern is that the College would be held responsible if anything were to happen to a minor on campus.

The recent attention to this policy stems from the case of sixteen-year-old Jamilya Sauranbaeva '12 who has been living in the College-owned Kress Inn since January because she is still considered too young to live on campus. She is also not allowed to live with her seventeen-year-old sister Janiya '12, also a minor, who is a current resident of Mary Minahan McCormick (3M) hall.

While most returning students finalized their living plans by the end of March, this has not been the case for the two sisters from Kazakhstan who, after months of waiting for a reply from the Department of Residential Housing and Education (REH), still do not know where they will be living next semester.

"I just love this place, it's quiet and nice. The only problem is, I can't live on campus. But it's almost the end of the semester, we will be taking one summer session, but we are moving back to Kazakhstan on June 7 [for the summer] so this question is still unknown to us. It's confusing," Jamilya said. "I would love to live on campus next year for the experience and to get to know people."

Sauranbaeva was originally placed with a host-family, but the arrangement was not a good fit and the home was farther away and became inconvenient for them to drive her to campus everyday where she spends most of her time. Therefore, Sauranbaeva's family wanted her to be somewhere closer to the college and its environment, and the only real option was for her to stay at the hotel.

Her older sister Janiya feels like this has become a financial situation as well. The Sauranbaeva family pays $1400 at the beginning of each month to the hotel, which is almost as much as a student would pay for one semester to live on campus in the dorms.

Pat Olejniczak, director of sales and services at the Kress Inn, confirmed that the money goes back to the College because it owns the hotel. "We've had students in the past stay for a whole semester or so, we do long-term discounts and try to do the best we can to help them," he said.

When asked if the College was helping the Sauranbaeva's defer the cost of the hotel, Cynthia Barnett, assistant dean for campus life, replied that they were not. "I mean, to attend a college there's tuition, room and board, and that would be her responsibility like it would be for any other student. It's not a Cindi Barnett policy; it's a St. Norbert College institutional policy. So I'm not in a position to find an agreeable arrangement," she said.

"Our policy and procedure is that a student less than seventeen would not live in a residence hall, not because we're concerned about their behavior, but we're concerned about if something were to happen to them," adding that, "we don't really provide the structure or the staffing configuration to provide staff coverage for her," said Barnett.

When asked whether it be safer for Jamilya if she lived on campus where Campus Safety is nearby rather than walking to Kress Inn at night or someplace off campus, Barnett replied, "No, or we wouldn't have the policy that we do."

Sauranbaeva said, "But really it doesn't make any sense, if I live out of campus and something happens to me, I think the College should still be responsible because they forced me to live off campus."

However, Sauranbaeva's father has made the statement in writing that he would not hold the College liable in case something happened to his daughter's safety, and he would even be willing to pay for extra training for resident assistants so that a system could be established.

When the St. Norbert Times asked to be shown the aforementioned policy in writing, Barnett failed to give a direct response and instead mentioned that the age requirement might be in the English as a Second Language (ESL) handbook.

The Times then asked Dr. Joseph Tullbane, associate dean for international education and outreach and director of the center for international education, if he knew where this policy was listed or if it was a part of the ESL handbook. Tullbane replied, "No, and that's a good question because they [REH] simply tell us, specifically Cindi Barnett, that because they're underage, there are extra requirements for them living on campus."

The Sauranbaeva sisters were both ESL students last semester, but since this January they have been enrolled as students in regular classes and would have been sooner if their English skills were a little stronger, Tullbane said.

"In a real sense they passed out of our [CIE] car at that point, but they're still international students and we still care about what's going on with them, and I personally feel for them and I definitely need to help them," said Tullbane.

According to the sisters, Barnett had posed the question that if they refused Jamilya from living on campus and she only had two options - to live with a host-family or just leave St. Norbert - which would she choose?

"Even though my father would rather have me stay at the hotel, of course I would choose a host-family," Jamilya said, "but who can bend me to leave? She said that since we were sent to the college she basically said it was our problem. I mean St. Norbert is supposed to be a home - everyone should stay on campus, that's the main rule."

An article published in the Spring 2008 issue of the St. Norbert College Magazine entitled "Radical Hospitality" was written by Jeff Kurowski in which the Rev. Dr. Jay Fostner, O. Praem '84, vice president for mission and heritage, said, "While St. Norbert may not be a destination for wandering pilgrims like the abbeys in the 14th century, creating a welcoming environment remains an essential part of the college's mission. The value of radical hospitality is played out today in many forms on campus.The Kress Inn is a part of that welcoming spirit. We reserve a few rooms, so if there is a crisis on campus, we make sure we take care of family members."