Illini Tower residents have complained that room checks by resident advisors immediately before and during Unofficial St. Patrick’s Day were too aggressive.

A management official from the company that owns Illini Tower, located at 409 E. Chalmers St., said that some of the practices tenants are accusing resident advisors of are “unacceptable.”

Olabisi Adesida, resident and junior in Business, said she was sitting in her in room when a male resident advisor entered without knocking and began searching her apartment and bedroom.

Illini Tower staff could not be reached for comment this week.

“I hate the raiding of our rooms, the fact that they are capable of coming into our rooms and searching through our belongings, even though it’s in our lease,” Adesida said.

Staff should always have permission before a search, said Troy Bayham, vice president of operations at Campus Living Villages, the company that owns Illini Tower.

“They should never enter a room without knocking first,” Bayham said. “It would be unacceptable to me for someone to key into a room.”

Bayham said that the company works hard to promote students’ safety by enacting policies, such as room searches. However, he said that students may feel some of these measures are punitive.

“If the students are unhappy about this policy, there is room to evaluate it,” he said.

Bayham said he has spoken to staff about evaluating the room search policy to make it better for the students.

Rooms are searched at other times throughout the school year, some of the building’s residents said.

The lease states that the manager and other staff may at any time and without notice enter the premises for any reason deemed reasonable by them.

However, some residents said they thought the Unofficial checks were particularly intrusive.

Peter Mignin , resident and freshman in Business, said everything in his apartment was searched on March 5 when he was not home. Only one of his roommates was present.

“I could definitely tell that my duffle bags had been gone through and my laundry was scattered (on the ground),” he said.

Mignin said that the lease is vague.

“The lease isn’t clearly defined,” he said. “They don’t let you know what they can search or what our rights are.”

Francesca Himelman, freshman in LAS, and her roommate Meredith Janes, freshman in DGS, were also surprised by the intense search of their apartment on Unofficial. Janes said their bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom, closets and drawers were searched.

Himelman said she believes the resident advisors are allowed to search anything that is Illini Tower property, such as the drawers and closets.

“They can ask you to go through your personal items, but you can say no,” she said. “If you say no, I’ve heard they will threaten to report you for suspicion.”

Matt Eisenbart, resident and freshman in Engineering, said he felt his privacy was compromised when the resident advisors came to his apartment late at night on March 5. He said he had just gotten out of the shower, and they knocked once and used their master key cards to enter the room.

“I wouldn’t recommend it to people I know who are coming here next year because I think (the) management is too strict on enforcement of rules,” said Eisenbart.

Despite these issues, Brad Silverman, a resident and freshman in Business, and other residents enjoy the personal kitchens, bathrooms and air conditioning that each room in Illini Tower is equipped with.

“It’s probably better than other places on campus,” Silverman said. “They sell it really well. They show you a good room and tell you it’s going to be great. It’s not exactly what they promised, but it’s close.”

Mignin disagreed and said that what they are being offered at Illini Tower is not worth the price they pay to live there.

“For the amount of money we pay, I thought it should be that much better,” he said. “I was very disappointed.”