Hello Mercer University Housing and Residence Life,

The Resident Assistants who have chosen to remain on campus during the COVID-19 outbreak are performing a valuable duty to Mercer University administration and residents, but they are not being compensated fairly for this work. In an email sent to Resident Assistants by AC Elexandria Reese on March 13, 2020, RAs were told they "may have to pick up other RAs' duties/residents/responsibilities and will be compensated accordingly." The RAs who have stayed have had to pick up extra duty and other responsibilities beyond what their job duty entails, and they have been denied compensation. RAs were told for several weeks that the Housing and Residence Life Office was still deciding what the compensation would be. On April 5, 2020, AC Austin Rayford told an RA over text that "as of now, there will not be any additional compensation." The RAs were lied to that they would be receiving compensation and were strung about for weeks on questions of what their compensation would be for staying. Many RAs chose to stay and help out specifically for this compensation, so being lied to has damaged the trust RAs have in their supervisors and in the office they work for. 

Personally, I chose not to stay and endanger myself on campus during this pandemic, but the RAs that chose to honor their commitments and continue doing this job despite the risk should be celebrated and rewarded. My leaving - and others - has made their jobs more difficult and has disrupted even more of their schedules. They are providing a service to the university that is so vital to the continuation of student housing on campus. I would like to recognize how grateful many residents are to still have a place to stay at Mercer University, and I do thank the university profusely for allowing students with no other place to go the continued opportunity to live in campus housing. However, this service requires Resident Assistants who are doing a great service of their own. RAs are students first but are also University employees, so they should be treated with double the respect for their work during this pandemic.

I recognize that payment for the RA position is through free housing, but when other opportunities to earn income have been ended and there is no access to food other than at the Fresh Food Company (which is relatively expensive for a college student with a limited meal plan), RAs need a little more. We ask that the Resident Assistants on campus be given vouchers for food at the Fresh Food Campany for their compensation. This will enable them to stay and continue helping Housing and Residence Life because they will be able to eat. Many RAs do not have kitchens in their buildings, so this need is paramount. Please provide this compensation to the RAs remaining on campus. 

Thank you,

Mercer University Resident Assistants