A Cautionary Tale from a College Disaster: This Sh*t Is Bananas

January 22, 2009 2:00 pm     Posted in Reality  Charlsie Niemiec g+ page

banana_peel.jpgCollege pranks generally include duct taping someone’s door, moving a school mascot across campus to another location, writing dirty messages in chalk throughout a parking lot, posting fake fliers for crazy sex parties, and maybe even sometimes, throwing tar on a fraternities front lawn at 4am. What about the word “bitch” being written over and over again on someone’s whiteboard? Does that count as a prank? If that counts, where is the line drawn?


By Charlsie Niemiec

As I danced through (and let me say, there was a lot of dancing on the weekends) my spring semester of freshman year, everything came to a screeching halt when I returned from class one day with the word bitch written in big letters across my whiteboard. My first intention was that my friends did it as a joke – no big deal. But when I asked them about it, they had no idea what I was talking about.

And then it happened again. And again. And nearly every time I left my room. It turned into this monotonous cycle, where bitch turned into other words, and when I say ‘other’ words I am talking about every negative synonym under the sun. Then messages were left letting me know that I was disliked, “hated” in fact, around campus. My door decorations disappeared or were ripped up. My name was even blacked out on the community bulletin board for my hall. Eventually, my whiteboard disappeared into the grungy abyss of my neon green hallway. Every time I shut my door or pretty much blinked, I had to prepare myself with what would be there next.

As it happened, over and over again, I reported it. Each and every time. I had no idea who would spend so much time doing something so crude over and over again. The first few times were laughable, but then the consistency of the messages and removal of my property alarmed me. I felt like I was being watched. So, I talked with my hall RA and the head RA of the building, and then I followed up the line with the Area Coordinator of Housing and Residence Life on campus, the Dean of Students, and Campus Safety. Everyone told me that I was being too paranoid, that it was just a prank, because no one could actually be that mean on campus.

This all started in January, but the worst of it came in April of 2007. Returning back to my hall after a party in my best friend’s room, there was a trail of banana’s coming from my door. Walking closer, I realized that not only were banana pieces placed outside my door, but they were smeared on the bottom of the door, and they coated my door knob. Anyone who knows me knows that banana’s make me sick. The smell of bananas immediately makes my stomach turn, and within seconds of standing at my door, I threw up.

Running to get an available RA, I brought her to the witness the disgusting display of the yellow fruit. After opening my door, we realized that someone actually slid banana pieces through the crack of my door, so that the smell would get into my room. Expecting the RA to help the situation, she instead, stood there with her boyfriend and told me to clean it up – despite seeing how sick it was making me. She didn’t even help besides glaring at me. I could not believe what was going on, so I started taking pictures of the banana’s to send to my parents and the administration. Telling me to stop taking pictures, the RA snapped and told me that I needed to stop being so ridiculous because they were just banana’s. Cleaning up the mess, I continued to gag and get sick without any help from her.

Immediately, I reported it to EVERYONE that I thought should be informed in a higher position on campus. Monday morning, I received a knock at my door by the Area Coordinator. “I got your e-mail this weekend, where are the banana’s you said were smeared on your door?” Looking at her, I could not believe she would have actually thought I would have let the bananas fester in the hall for an entire weekend. When I told her I cleaned them up, she skeptically looked at me like I made up the story as a piece of fiction.

Later that day, I had a meeting with the Dean and the head of Housing. They told me that they didn’t know why I was so worked up over the incident. To them, it was just a prank. By this time, I had 14 documented accounts of vandalism and messages left on my whiteboard – yet it was still a prank for someone to take time out of their life to personally affect me? It didn’t make sense to me as they told me this, and it doesn’t make sense to me today.

The more I fussed about the situation, the more they pointed the finger at me. The administration told me they thought my friends did it – even though I was with them all night. They told me that no one would do that at our university. They pulled out their favorite card: “What did you do to deserve this? What did you do to make someone want to put bananas on your door?”

Although I told the administration I felt like I was being harassed and bullied, they told me to basically shut up and let it go because in their eyes, I wasn’t being treated any differently on campus. Right, because everyone has bananas and the word bitch smeared all over their door day after day? They said they couldn’t do anything. However, they chose not to do anything. Any reputable college would work with a student to make them feel safe on campus, especially to prevent such attack again (the banana episode sadly wasn’t the last thing to happen to me).

My school did not.

If you know of someone bullying someone else or harassing them, even in subtle ways like writing nasty comments on their whiteboard, you as a student have a responsibility to speak up. I am sure that someone on my hall saw someone write a message or put the bananas out, but they didn’t object or question the situation.

It’s not right for a student to fear opening their door or being alone on campus, especially when the administration is hush hush about the situation in the first place. What I found to be important with this issue was speaking up. Telling as many students as I could about it, so they knew that such incidents actually happened on campus. Even on a small campus, such as Hollins. Students have the right to know what’s going on – whether it is the administration ignoring another student or what happens in their dorm buildings on a Friday night.

28 Comments on "A Cautionary Tale from a College Disaster: This Sh*t Is Bananas"

  1. Bella says:
    Thu, 22nd Jan 20099:04 am 

    THIS SUCH A GOOD COLUMN! KEEP IT UP!

  2. Matthew says:
    Thu, 22nd Jan 20099:29 am 

    this stuff is inbelievable, and the fact that the administration not only doesn't do anything but blames the victim is unacceptable. I hope the university finds this column and is forced to finally admit its mistakes.

  3. amanda says:
    Thu, 22nd Jan 200910:02 am 

    favorite columnist.

    i'm sort of horrified though at the two things you've posted. i can't imagine how you must've felt. i'm pretty sensitive myself and i don't think i would've taken it as well and maturely as you seem to have, so props to you. what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?

    i do wonder though why you don't transfer if you've had issues like the ones you've described. it sounds like you are or were miserable. i know hollins is a good and reputable school, but what's the point of staying somewhere where you're harassed and unhappy? but again, kudos for sticking it out and living to tell the tail. i really admire that.

  4. amanda says:
    Thu, 22nd Jan 200910:04 am 

    p.s.: i agree with matthew. i hope they get really embarassed and start to freak out.

    honestly, you should send this to some newspapers. i think they'd actually be really interested in hearing horror stories like these and the lack of interest or help by the administration. i'm sure you're not alone, and it would get the word out. as well as put hollins' ass back in line.

  5. Charlsie - Hollins U says:
    Thu, 22nd Jan 200910:41 am 

    I was very serious about transferring after my first year. However, when I think of college … academics come to mind, first and foremost. I really love my classes, and I have never had a problem with the academics. So, I used that as my reason to stay. And I actually believed (maybe convinced myself) that things would work out sophomore year, but they didn't … as you will read in the future.

    I'm a junior now, and I still have had problems. I just keep hoping that next semester will be better than what I've had before, so I constantly look at things with a hopeful perspective. Honestly though, if i could do it over, I would have left.

    I'm sure college would be a different experience for me, if I wasn't there.

  6. amanda says:
    Thu, 22nd Jan 200911:00 am 

    ah, i see. well like i said it's certainly admirable how you're toughing it out. at least you can live off campus, right? hah.

    the harassment stuff i definitely identify with: girls can be so cruel. i've dealt with stuff sorta like that before too.

  7. Charlsie - Hollins U says:
    Thu, 22nd Jan 200911:03 am 

    Girls can definitely be cruel. It's the whole "Mean Girls" phenomenon, which is sad.

    Off campus housing NOT an option at my school. They only allow commuters to live off campus. Everyone else must live on campus. No exceptions to the rule.

  8. amanda says:
    Thu, 22nd Jan 200911:11 am 

    whoa, lame. i'm sorry! :[

  9. maddie says:
    Thu, 22nd Jan 200911:47 am 

    you should sue these administration assholes

  10. Olivia says:
    Thu, 22nd Jan 200911:58 am 

    At my school there have been incidents like this, most of them racially motivated. However, my school community and administration responded very strongly and the incidents stopped. It makes me outraged that some schools do nothing to help or prevent these kind of hate crimes. And that's what they are, Hate Crimes. I hope that somehow you can get through to someone about just how serious this is.

  11. Meagan - Mizzou says:
    Thu, 22nd Jan 200912:06 pm 

    I'm really sorry to hear that you have had to go through this kind of stuff. I have personally never experienced it or heard of anything near as bad, but it sounds atrocious.

    I agree with what was said above, though: what doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger. It's cliche, but it really is true.

    I hope things get better for you, even if just a little.

    Maybe you should try killing them with kindness? I don't know. Possibly putting a note on your door saying you understand that you must have done something horribly rotten to someone, but you cannot fathom what is was. If the person would like to come talk to you in private and confidentially, they can find you in your room at a certain time. Say that you are sorry about whatever it was that you did wrong and see what happens. The person could genuinely be a bad person that won't care, but you may also find that it stops or the person may even talk to you! (I realize you may have done nothing wrong, but it wouldn't hurt to try, if something like this happens again, right?)

    And I don't understand the whole commuter situation. Pardon my ignorance, but if you lived in an apartment near the campus, paid your own bills to a landlord and not the school, wouldn't you be considered a commuter? I could very easily be incorrect.

    "Everything happens for a reason. Even if you can't see it now, you will one day, and it will all make sense."

    (P.S. Heh. Doesn't mean you deserve it, just that it happened to you for a reason, even if just to write this article and inform future college students about the horrors that can happen, preparing them for life…)

  12. Kelly says:
    Thu, 22nd Jan 20091:31 pm 

    I'm looking forward to hearing the rest of your story, as horrible as it is… I could never imagine my college doing this, but after studying abroad last semester I learned different colleges have different administrative standards. I'm so sorry that you've gone through all this and hope that it does in fact turn for the better!

  13. Nicole says:
    Thu, 22nd Jan 20092:02 pm 

    Perhaps it was the ex-roomate, Mary?

    In the dorms?

    With a bag o' bananas?

    I'm pretty sure I'd be ticked if someone did that… and scared!

  14. Melissa says:
    Thu, 22nd Jan 20095:48 pm 

    Any chance your psycho roommate from the last story was pulling this crap on you?

    Was she moved out by then, and pissed about it?

    No offense, but you seem to attract a lot of insane people, but you seem like a really nice, intelligent, sensible person so I really don't understand why people are so mean to you or why the administration was so lacking in help.

  15. vi says:
    Thu, 22nd Jan 20097:16 pm 

    Hmph.. that’s terrible what happened to you. I wish the school caught and punished the vandal- maybe a hidden camera might have worked?

  16. MiMi says:
    Thu, 22nd Jan 20098:05 pm 

    What kind of administration does Hollins have? I am sure you pay thousands of dollars in tution each year, and the appalling incidents that have happened to you are ignored? Perhaps a lawsuit would gain the attention of such a dismal administration!

  17. e says:
    Thu, 22nd Jan 20099:43 pm 

    When Time Are Tough, Have an Orgasm!

    http://www.collegecandy.com/sex/15857

  18. Emily says:
    Thu, 22nd Jan 200910:26 pm 

    My life was threatened on my college campus and I ran into pretty much the same kinds of responses you did. It’s horrible how no one takes anything seriously these days.

  19. Charlsie - Hollins University says:
    Fri, 23rd Jan 200912:15 am 

    I mostly am writing this column to inform people about my situation, so maybe one day I can help someone out if they find themselves in the same situation. The thought of someone else going through this crap that I have experienced pretty much kills me, so I believe that even though I had to experience it, I am here to tell the story and that is what matters.

    I tried asking people what I did, but people never really said anything. In fact, when I have confronted students on my campus about issues, they have said petty things like “I heard you were a bitch to my friend once” or the craziest thing that someone confessed to doing something bad to me for was “I saw you sitting with so and so at lunch one day, and I don’t like them.” I still don’t know who did the banana incident, but opening a conversation with my peers has not worked, but that discontent hasn’t been from my side.

    More about the commuter situation … you have to be a citizen of Roanoke before starting college to be considered a ‘commuter.’ So you can’t just go find an apartment off campus and commute to school to have that title. There are actual rules around this, at least at Hollins.

    When speaking with the President of my school, she suggested that it was my roommate. However, I don’t think it was. My roommate was moved to a different building than my own, and I was moved into a single … a totally different room than where the two of us lived together originally. Also, my roommate really kept to herself. Although we had problems, she definitely was one of those people who just kept to herself and never really did anyone harm, except the night she kinda lost it. I don’t think this behavior really fit her personality. Especially because the frequency of what happened wouldn’t fit with the fact that she lived elsewhere, and she would have to have a key to my building, which she didn’t have … considering she lived in another residence hall. At Hollins, all keys don’t enter everyone to every building. The key to your building opens the door to your specific building, nothing else.

    Melissa, tell me about it. I attract the crazies. I have never experienced this in high school or outside of college (interning, living in new places for extended periods of time, or in any other setting besides Hollins). It seems like a slap in the face, over and over again, with all the nonsense that stems from incidents like this and the lack of participation from the administration. Trust me, I have cried many many times on the phone to my mom about why this stuff continues to happen to me. And the only place that it really has happened at is Hollins.

  20. Matthew says:
    Fri, 23rd Jan 20095:14 am 

    This whole thing reeks of some hidden camera conspiracy. Maybe when you graduate, a group of people will pop out of the bushes and say, you've been punked. The total lack of incitement of all these incidents by you completely astounds me. I think some people, and some institutions are just plain crazy and irration. It continuously perpetuates itself in the most ignorant way eventually pushing out the good apples like yourself.

  21. Mom says:
    Fri, 23rd Jan 20094:32 pm 

    Hey Charlsie,

    I was so excited when you decided to go to Hollins it seemed like the perfect fit for you. Oh well do we know different. I am extremly proud of you and your decision to always stand up for the right. You are strong,determined,and have great integrity and all of the crap you've endured at Hollins only makes you a better stronger woman that I proudly say is my daughter. No matter what happens at Hollins you have shown yourself to have character and the BALLS to always do what is right. Love ya

  22. Meg says:
    Sun, 25th Jan 200911:29 am 

    Hey, I feel bad for you sweetie, really and truely. My best guess for what is happening, and it's a little off the wall, is that it's the School doing these acts of insanity. Your school sounds like alot of small towns, they are very set in their ways and may hell come if you upset them. I honestly think your the victim of one of the higher ups at your school who has decided your a problem and since they cant expell you they are trying to make you really want to leave. This is a crazy theory, but stranger things have happened.

  23. Krissy says:
    Sun, 25th Jan 20097:00 pm 

    I'm so sorry that you have gone through all that AND that you can't seem to find help or an escape! That's horrible.

    ps – I go to school in Lynchburg! Not far =) but far more boring…

  24. sara says:
    Mon, 26th Jan 20095:59 pm 

    My life was threatened at college too… publicly, in this girls facebook status. For EVERYONE to see. Even printing out the page for the administration AND police got very little accomplished, and I couldn't press any charges online because it was online. Like, that was literally their reason. Basically the police officer told me that unless she threatened me directly to my face the law did not cover anything she writes online.

    I think this is ridiculous and scary!?!?!?!?

  25. Lindsay - Auburn says:
    Fri, 6th Feb 200912:00 pm 

    Bless your heart! I wish things were different for you. I would definitely consider a lawsuit or calling the police if it ever happens again, but I see that you are a junior now and has subsided some.

    If we had been friends, someone would have gotten an a** beating for sure. I can't bear to see someone get picked on like that!

  26. Max Carter says:
    Sun, 15th Feb 20096:54 pm 

    This is effed up. Even if everyone on campus really did hate you, your RA is supposed to be impartial. And that's coming from a rogue RA!

  27. Makenna says:
    Mon, 23rd Nov 200912:24 am 

    I'm SOOOO sorry you had to deal with that! I had a similar situation my frosh year, although my RAs were helpful…

    I think you need to pull in some bigger guns here. Call the police, get them involved. Hopefully you still have the pictures of the banana incident. The evidence here would suggest at least an unnatural interest in you and your life, if not something bordering on stalking. I don't know your state laws, but usually a legitimate fear for yourself is enough to get them to listen.

    Would it be an option to get a lawyer at all? Maybe advertise around and see if anyone would do it for free? I seriously think you should seek legal action against the university if at all possible. It might sound overkill, but it might be the only way to get their attention and prevent this irresponsibility against another student. It is their responsibility, as the providers of this housing and the authority system within it, to maintain a certain order. They're not doing that. They've acted as accessories to your harassment (and possible stalking), they've been negligent, and quite frankly, they deserve to have their asses sued. After Virginia Tech you'd think they'd take bullying more seriously.

  28. Casey says:
    Mon, 23rd Nov 20098:54 am 

    That is so sweet that your mom commented. At least you have your family's support and aren't entirely alone in this.

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