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Alleged Trivino incident extreme example of previous floor behavior

Throughout the fall semester, members of the No. 9 Boston University men’s hockey team – living in the same building where then senior forward Corey Trivino allegedly sexually harassed a female student on Dec. 11 – had consistently exhibited inappropriate behavior, building residents said.

The 21-year-old Trivino’s arrest on charges of breaking and entering, assault and battery and assault to rape painted a picture of an isolated incident of inappropriate behavior from one of the hockey team’s brightest stars.

After the arrest, however, The Daily Free Press learned that Trivino’s behavior on the night of the arrest was an exaggerated example of commonplace behavior on that floor.

Residents of the building told The DFP, while they never experienced a player attempting to assault them, issues with players bothering girls on the floor was a large problem that dated back to the beginning of the semester.

The residents asked to remain anonymous in fear of getting involved in “drama” concerning the still-open legal case – Trivino’s next court date is set for Jan. 18 – but they said some of the players were often disruptive, made lewd comments and knocked on girls’ doors.

Residents said the players would ask for condoms or see if the girls would let the barely dressed players into their rooms. If residents did not open their doors, they said, the players would leave. But the noisy behavior, which commonly occurred on weeknights, was a nuisance.

“They’re always running through the hallways and banging on our door, banging on other peoples’ doors in the hallways,” an anonymous resident said. “The Resident Advisor would have to come out and tell them like, ‘Guys, be quiet.’”

In October, the RA sent an email to everyone on the floor stating her floor was not a zoo and implored them to “stop behaving like animals,” the residents said. The residents originally volunteered to provide a copy of the email to The DFP, but later rescinded their offer.

The email did not stop the players’ behavior. The residents said the RA was constantly leaving her room to yell at the rowdy players and attempting to quiet them down.

When asked to describe which players ran through the halls and disturbed girls on the floor, residents did not describe Trivino. They did not recognize a description of Trivino and said they had personally never seen him behaving inappropriately in the hall.

Residents on other floors of the building did not report the same problems, and said players on their floors never ran loudly through the halls and were always well behaved. Many residents of the building said they were unaware they lived on the same floor as hockey players.

The residents whom lived on the rowdy floor said the only way to avoid the players was to ignore them.

“Basically it’s just an everyday kind of thing,” a resident said. “They’d be screaming in the hallways a lot. We ignore it most of the time.”

“We don’t ever open the door,” another resident said. “It’s no use to encourage that behavior because it’ll just give them more attention.”

However, in the police report describing Trivino’s arrest, the RA that Trivino allegedly came after said she had no choice but to open the door. According to the police report, the victim said she had to open the door because she was an RA.

According to other RAs at BU, however, the rule does not exist.

An RA in another building at BU, who asked to remain anonymous because she was unsure if she was allowed to comment on the matter, said she never heard of a rule requiring her to always open her door if someone knocked.

Another RA, who asked to remain anonymous, said she was shocked when she read – in the original DFP article published on Dec. 13 – the victim said she had to open the door all three times Trivino came calling. The RA interviewed had never heard of a rule requiring her to open her door. The RA said that in training, RAs are taught their safety comes first and if they are threatened, they should do whatever possible to protect themselves.

The DFP made multiple attempts to reach David Zamojski, BU’s director of Residence Life, for comment on the matter. Zamojski’s office, however, said he would call back a different day until, three days after the first attempt to reach Zamojski, his office said he was out for the weekend.

Attempts to reach others in housing were denied, as all others contacted deferred comment to Zamojski. Zamojski also did not respond to an email from The DFP seeking comment.

Former RA Caitlin Cox, a BU Class of 2010 graduate, said she understood why the victim would originally open the door for Trivino even if there were no rule requiring her to do so.

“The bottom line is that as an RA, your job is to help the students you are in charge of,” Cox said. “Not only is it your job, people become RAs because they want to help. So if there was someone banging on the door in the middle of the night, you jump to action because that is what you are trained to do and that is what you are ready to do.”

The DFP also spoke with BU spokesman Colin Riley, who denied commenting on the RA policy and said BU officials would not comment while the police investigation continues.

In spite of the RA’s efforts to stop the rambunctious behavior, one resident said the hockey players’ habits created an uneasy living environment and left residents wondering how to prevent a similar assault from happening to them.

“We don’t open the door, but I mean if we did I can only imagine. . .what if that [attack] happened to one of us?” one resident said. “They’re big guys, we can’t fight back.”

Kevin Dillon, Meredith Perri and Annie Ropeik contributed to the reporting of this article. 

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3 Comments

  1. So these guys are rambunctious and they flirt with girls? Wow, I had no idea they were acting like college kids. The topic of this article is a non-issue. I’ve seen much worse, especially freshman and sophomore year.

    I’m much more interested in the second half of the article, about the RA opening her door when she didn’t have to. Why would she open her door three times when, as written above, “If residents did not open their doors … the players would leave?” There should be a separate article on that. That said, I do like how in depth the writers got with interviews here. Good investigative reporting.

  2. When I was in school males were kept away from the female dorms. Half dressed men should not be near women in their living quarters. Think of how a woman feels when someone half dressed makes a pass at her. She should have basic privacy. The “modern” way is all wrong. I know as a parent I was sick to hear that my daughter’s roomate experienced the same thing the first week at college. Woman talk about rights all the time. How about the right to basic privacy?

  3. @The Phantom, your claim is offensive and hurtful to survivors of sexual assault, as well as to women at large. Dismissing such incidents and saying that you have “seen much worse” does NOT make it ok. Women have the right to feel SAFE and COMFORTABLE in their own HOME. Unwanted sexual comments and sexual assault are NEVER ok. We are not your “honeys” or your “sweeties,” and we are definitely NOT yours to sexualize and objectify.

    In addition, asking the question “why did she open the door if she wasn’t required to” is just downright messed up. This is a prime example of the RAPE CULTURE that predominates our society! Don’t ask why the victim opened the door, ask WHY THE PERPETRATOR SEXUALLY ASSAULTED HER.