First Year Counselor in Stewart Fired
Barrett Smith '13 was fired from his position of FYC Monday night
On Monday night, Barrett Smith ’13 was fired from his position as First Year Counselor (FYC) on the fourth floor of Stewart in Brainerd Commons for letting a guest stay in his room who allegedly made some of his First Years uncomfortable and potentially endangered their safety.
What Happened?
The guest, a 28-year old man named Luaay from Vancouver, BC, stayed in Smith’s room for one week. Smith, a Classics Major, met Luaay in New York City at an Occupy Wall Street demonstration where they talked for a few hours. Afterwards, Smith offered his room at Middlebury to Luaay as a place to sleep if his travels brought him through Vermont.
Luaay, who has been traveling around the country for the past year, took Smith up on his offer, sleeping in his room and spending his days reading, writing and doing research in the Library and taking trips into town. He mostly bought and cooked his own food, although he did eat in the dining hall on a few occasions.
But during Luaay’s stay at Middlebury, Public Safety received complaints that some of the 38 boys living on Stewart 4 felt uncomfortable with Luaay staying in Barrett’s room.
On Monday November 21 (the day before Luaay planned to leave) Public Safety came to Smith’s room to ask Luaay to leave campus. Because he was not in Smith’s room when they arrived (although his belongings were) and he could not be found on campus, they suspected evasion. Smith maintains that Luaay was visiting his friend in town and unaware that Public Safety wanted to remove him. In any case, their failure to locate him prompted Public Safety to get the Middlebury Police Department involved in finding him.
Two MPD officers, one MPD officer-in-training, and two Public Safety Officers eventually found and surrounded Luaay walking into the foyer of the Davis Family Library. They then issued him an indefinite no-trespass order and escorted him to Smith’s room where he immediately got his belongings and was driven off campus by Smith and another friend. Read more
