On first-year move-in day in August 2023, Alex, who was working as a residence advisor (RA), stepped outside to take a breath. This break began a chain of events that would eventually lead Alex to leave his job.
As an individual with depersonalization-derealization disorder (DPDR), Alex found himself starting to stumble over words and becoming unfocused. Alex often relies on taking short breaks during long periods of focus in order to keep his disassociation in check.
Alex, whose name has been changed to protect his identity, worked as a UBC RA for three years. The now-fifth-year international economics major initially loved being an RA, but when he moved from Place Vanier to Marine Drive in his fourth year, Alex noticed a shift in the way he was being treated.
“I felt the way management treated me and was treating other RAs was really unfair,” said Alex in an interview with The Ubyssey.
In his monthly one-on-one with his Residence Life Manager (RLM), Alex said they continuously brought up the break he took. “[They brought it up as] a sort of way to reprimand me and demonstrate distrust in me, and I felt like that was inappropriate,” he said.
Afterwards, Alex sent an email explaining what had happened on move-in day and why he needed to take small breaks, to which he said he received no response.
A week later, there was another move-in day and Alex found himself dissociating again. This time though, Alex went to his RLM first to ask to take a break.
“In that time where I was dissociating and I wasn’t able to really be present ... I was hoping for understanding,” Alex said. “But instead, I was asked to justify why I need a break ... [and] how this is going to impact the team.”
“I feel like from that moment on ... [it] just always felt like I was treated as lesser than and [as if I was] not committed to the role.”
Alex further told The Ubyssey his RLM also scrutinized a washroom break he took on the second move-in day. “I was asked, ‘Why did I need to go to the washroom?’ [and] what I did in there, which was bizarre, and I just felt everything I did came under scrutiny.”
Alex said he felt his condition was being viewed as unimportant or non-existent, and the stress he was feeling in the workplace caused him to set up another meeting with his RLM.
“Instead of offering help, I was told that ... ‘If you want something from me, you have to offer something. You have to offer what you will do in return.’”
On January 9, Alex sent an email to his RLM to express “discomfort with the tone of [his RLM’s] conversation in professional settings,” and his hope that the two could “foster a more constructive and respectful working environment going forward.”
According to Alex, this email — including a follow-up he sent — never received a reply.
In a January 29 one-on-one, Alex said he attempted to discuss the contents of his earlier email. In response, his RLM told him they hadn’t replied because the email was “disrespectful” and that he should “think before sending an email like that.”
After these failed attempts to have his concerns heard, Alex sent an email to his RLM and CC’d all the RAs in Marine Drive. In that email, he wrote of his experiences of feeling “unwelcome, unheard, and emotionally unsafe in Marine Drive,” and highlighted that he felt “discriminatory bias” from his RLM on the basis of his mental illness.
“I was just hoping to spur a deeper conversation and maybe encourage some other RAs to come forward and share things too,” Alex said. He told The Ubyssey that he knew he wasn’t the only person who’d experienced difficulties with management, and that there was a “pattern of feeling unheard” among RAs.
The Ubyssey was unable to interview other RAs about their experiences.
Statistics Canada reported that less than half of youth with a mental health-related disability are employed and that the most common type of disability among youth is mental health-related. The BC Human Rights Code says employers cannot discriminate based on mental disability.
Alex said he also reached out to Andrew Quenneville, UBC’s associate director of strategic initiatives and staff development, about his concerns.
“There is a culture I have noticed throughout the big team that people are afraid of my RLM, and it really does not feel right to me,” wrote Alex to Quenneville.
“He was a lot more supportive, at least for listening to what had happened, and giving me advice. But there also wasn’t too much he could do,” said Alex about Quenneville in his interview with The Ubyssey.
On the advice of Quenneville, Alex also reached out to Samantha Morrison, the HR manager of student health & wellbeing and student housing and community services. Both Quenneville and Morrison outlined alternative routes Alex could take.
This included reaching out to Counsellor in Residence, UBC’s Stay at Work/Return to Work Office to get workplace accommodations and going to UBC’s Equity and Inclusion Office as the office offers human rights advising and is where UBC community members can file discrimination reports.
In a statement to The Ubyssey, Director of Student Residence Lakshmi Sangaranarayanan wrote that UBC values the contributions of RAs and takes any concerns they raise very seriously.
“While we cannot comment on specific cases due to privacy considerations, we encourage anyone with concerns to use the university’s established reporting channels,” Sangaranarayanan wrote.
After what he called a disheartening year, Alex decided not to return as an RA, a position he’d once loved.
Alex said he wanted to see a more comprehensive plan from UBC in order to better accommodate the physical and mental health concerns of RA’s.
“If someone’s communicating a need, I would just like to see that need addressed,” he said.
“[RAs] are there for [the] one-on-one supporting [of] other students. They do it out of the goodness of their heart, and it’s really disheartening to see.”
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