On Jan. 21 a fire broke out at an off-campus residence at Marist College, claiming the lives of Eva Block, Kevin Johnson and Kerry Fitzsimmons. With many students at Iona either knowing friends at the school or perhaps having considered attending the college themselves, the tragedy resonated in the New Rochelle community as well.

“What happened at Marist was tragic and actually affected one of my roommates closely,” says junior and off-campus resident Jamieson Kennedy. “His friend’s sister was actually one of the people that passed away in the fire. It truly does make you think about what you would do if a fire broke out in your apartment and how you would react.”

Many other off-campus residents expressed similar sentiments. Feelings of shock and lingering questions beginning with, “What if,” were all too common. Yet in the midst of a tragedy, there is always a lesson to be learned and remembered for the future.

Michele Sampson, director of off-campus housing at Iona, was a unique addition in 2008 to Iona’s community (only two other colleges in the area have similar positions). Sampson assists students in making the transition to living off campus as smooth as possible, whether that includes distributing guidebooks to landlords in the community including suggestions or holding information sessions in LaPenta covering every potential question by students.

“Unfortunately, accidents of this nature cannot always be prevented,” says Sampson, “so my goal is to raise awareness and reduce risk from the very beginning.”

Both Michele Sampson and Iona have made a serious commitment to a student’s transition, hoping that students will in turn make a serious commitment to their own safety and various regulations.

Sampson even holds a table twice a year in LaPenta where she hands out free smoke detector batteries and holds a raffle for carbon monoxide alarms as well. Sampson even took to Twitter soon after the tragic event to remind students that free smoke detector batteries are always available in the off-campus housing office.

As many students live in great numbers together both in apartment buildings and houses, Sampson says, “This does raise opportunities to remember that there is a reason that rules exist, they aren’t made just to make student’s lives more challenging.” And perhaps as students pause to remember those lost in the Marist fire, they will also pause to reconsider their safety.

Students can visit the Office of Off-Campus Housing on the 2nd floor of LaPenta to answer any possible questions as they begin the transition from dorm to apartment.