According to a document recently obtained by FITSNews, student body Vice President Jaren Stewart faced several allegations in April of 2017 that led to him being terminated from his position as a resident assistant and escorted out of the residence hall.
There were three separate allegations detailed in the article. The first was that Stewart enter into the room of two female residents without their permission. Whether they were in the room or not, Stewart allegedly would take their food, cleaning supplies, and their vacuum, and would leave the room covered in dirt and grass when entering after rugby matches. Despite being asked to no longer enter the room without permission, the behavior continued through the fall and spring semesters.
The second allegation was that Stewart would enter the same room while the two female residents were changing clothes and would not remove himself from the room when asked to leave. The document suggests that this was also a recurring event.
The final allegation stemmed from an April student senate meeting, where a resident senator voted against a piece of legislation that Stewart supported. He confronted the resident after the meeting and told her, “you shouldn’t vote against things you do not know anything about.” She reported feeling intimidated by his comment.
Will Folks from FITSNews told the TTO that he had “multiple sources” in the Clemson administration and student body who confirmed the accuracy of the document. Speaking to the TTO on the condition of anonymity, another RA attested to the accuracy of the events reported in the document as well as to the legitimacy of the document itself. This same RA also told the TTO that upon being fired Stewart was escorted out of the residence hall.
Jaren Stewart declined the TTO’s request for comment.
The document listed the urgency level as “critical”, the higher of the two options available on the OCES incident reporting form. According to the RA, “critical” incidents must be dealt with within a day of the filing of the incident report. The urgency of the report can be reflected in the immediate escort out of the residence hall.
The document was routed to Mary Montgomery, the Assistant Director of Residential Community Standards, and copies were sent to Executive Director of Housing and Dining Kathy Hobgood and Director of Residential Living Dr. Leasa Evinger, among others.
Resident assistants are subject to a progressive discipline system with four levels of discipline, the most severe of which being termination. Terminable offenses include the misuse of access or information privileges, major violations of either the Student Code of Conduct or Housing Contract, and actions that “no longer allow RAs to be seen as a role model in the community.”
