Erin Droste/KANSAN

Officials from the Department of Housing are interviewing residents of Stephenson Hall to determine who will be allowed to stay in the scholarship hall in the fall. The interviews are being conducted for the first time because of complaints the department has received about hall residents’ behavior. Stephenson Hall is located at 1404 Alumni Place, at the corner of 14th Street and Jayhawk Boulevard.

Residents of Stephenson Scholarship Hall had to fill out more than Intent-to-Return cards to return to the hall next semester.

Stephenson residents were required to have individual interviews with the Department of Student Housing or else they would not be allowed to live in the hall next fall.

This is the first time the department has ever had to call an entire residence in for this type of interview, said Ken Stoner, director of student housing.

Housing officials met with Stephenson residents March 16 to discuss incidents of unacceptable behavior this semester. Interviews started last week and are scheduled until April 25.

“It’s a privilege to live there, and we need to talk about the nature of that privilege and what their obligations are,” Stoner said.

Stoner could not comment on specific individuals, but said the incidents entailed repetitive trashing of the facility without cleaning it up and a resident demeaning another resident.

Fifty men live at Stephenson, 1404 Alumni Place.

Stoner said he expected about 35 students to return to Stephenson next fall.

Stephenson was historically a residence known for its wit and satire, but Stoner said this was more serious an issue.

“We can all stand the satire, but when you push the envelope beyond what would be considered good fun or satirical and it becomes physically overt in some way, then I think it needs to be addressed,” Stoner said.

Andrew Stangl, Wichita sophomore, said he was moving out of Stephenson next year because of housing’s requirements.

He said he was falsely accused of vandalism earlier in the semester. Stangl said about 15 members of Stephenson went to a female scholarship hall at 3 a.m. one Saturday night and sang songs outside the hall. He said the women let the members in the hall.

“I distinctly remember that I went to bed at midnight that night,” Stangl said. “I had been asleep for three hours at the time they accused me.”

Stangl said residents threw various objects off the fire escape this year, but he had never taken part in these actions. He said one instance involved Stephenson residents growing upset over an unfixed water fountain on the second floor, so they lit it on fire and threw it off the fire escape.

Other objects Stangl said he recalled seeing being thrown off the fire escape included a refrigerator, an oven, random non-working computer parts, a non-working television and a couch.

Blake Cripps, Topeka sophomore, experienced problems with Stephenson this semester. He said he might not be able to live in the hall next fall.

Cripps said he posted a sign on his door that stated “Richard is a dolt.”

“Richard” referred to Richard Friesner, Stephenson Scholarship Hall Director.

Friesner could not comment because of student housing regulations and directed all questions to Stoner.

Cripps said Friesner filed an incident report with student housing for the sign. The department put Cripps on one year of general probation. He said housing officials found him guilty of being uncooperative with the staff and general harassment, which violated the terms and conditions of his student housing contract.

Cripps appealed the probation March 18 on grounds that it was too severe, but the decision was upheld. The probation will last until the end of the semester next fall — if he gets back into the hall.

The probation letter stated that if he was involved with any other policy violations during his probation time, his status as a resident of student housing would be reviewed, Cripps said.

Cripps said he never had any incidents with the University of Kansas or student housing in the past. His interview was yesterday, and he wants to return to Stephenson next fall.

“Do I think the sanction is severe? Yeah, I think it’s way too severe, but they thought it was the right thing to do so I have to deal with it,” Cripps said.

He said Stephenson residents would be notified by May 9 on whether they would return next fall.