Volume 1, Number 1, Jan/Feb 2000

Mock Mediation Roleplay #1 (continued)

Chris Jones

Because you have to work 20 hours a week and carry a full academic load, you really needed to live in as quiet an environment as possible. This was so important to you that you were willing to move to a dorm where you knew no one because it was the only place you could get a single room. Unfortunately, your room is right next to Pat and Terry who are active in student politics and whose room is often a hub of activity with people from within and outside the dorm participating in frequent meetings. You have found it difficult to concentrate because the meetings often become heated. Three weeks ago, you left a note for Terry and Pat asking them to move their meetings to the dorm lounge but nothing came of it.

Last week, you had a big test coming up and really needed to concentrate. Again, there was a meeting going on and you found it impossible to concentrate. The senior resident assistant and the resident manager were out so you called some friends to complain. They came right over to help out. When they arrived they said "those people have no right using their room for meetings. They have plenty of other places to go like the Afro-Am center. Besides, dorms are for living and studying and not for plotting a black revolution." You were so exhausted from working and studying, all you wanted was to get the people out of Terry's and Pat's room. So you agreed with your friends to call campus police and complain that they were disturbing the peace. You heard the police arrive and once they left, Terry and Pat were pounding on your door, yelling at you and asking what your problem was. They accused you of harassing them. The RA showed up and helped calm the situation down. She suggested you all go to mediation to work out your problems.