Students who saw Lesley Hill taking boxes out of Crowell Quadrangle earlier this week weren't imagining things.
Hill-Residence Coordinator for Crowell and Wannamaker quadrangles since 2004-confirmed Wednesday that she had moved most of her possessions out of the RC apartment and will have finished moving out by the end of this week.
She was "temporarily reassigned" to another position within Residence Life and Housing Services, Hill and a source familiar with the situation confirmed.
The source, who wished to remain anonymous, said Hill had initially come under scrutiny because of issues related to the collection of funds for the housekeeping staff. Hill denied, however, that the collection violated University policy and maintained that she had managed all funds properly.
Since shortly before the beginning of Spring Break, Deb LoBiondo, assistant dean of residence life, has been acting as supervisor for the residence life staff in Crowell and Wannamaker.
"[LoBiondo] has just been doing the regular duties that Lesley has," said senior Luke Stewart, a Resident Assistant in Wannamaker.
RLHS officials declined to comment on the situation, citing a policy against speaking about matters relating to personnel.
Because the Housing Assignments division of RLHS needed extra help, Hill has been working there since her return at the end of last week from a planned vacation, she wrote in an e-mail. She added that she would now be working on "special projects for the department as needed," as her posting at Housing Assignments has now concluded.
"It was really weird," said junior Christian Sotomayor, who saw Hill removing her possessions from her residence in Crowell. "I don't know the story or anything.... Her boyfriend was helping her move out and, I think, one of her boyfriend's friends," Sotomayor said.
He added that Crowell residents have begun to receive regular e-mails from Paul Naglieri, the Kilgo Quadrangle RC.
Sophomore Ellis Wisely, a member of the Wannamaker Quad Council, said he first heard March 19 that Hill would no longer be working as his RC. "I still haven't really learned officially what's happening," Wisely said.
The issues concerning funds raised for the housekeepers' benefit did not directly lead to Hill's reassignment, the source said, but they led to a broader, formal investigation of her financial management.
"There are a lot of staff members and residents who are very confused as to why Lesley is no longer there," the source said.
In an e-mail, Hill noted that throughout her tenure as RC, she has encouraged RAs to collect private, voluntary donations of money to distribute among housekeeping and maintenance staff.
Members of the housekeeping staff declined to comment on this distribution.
"I know that I contributed money to it," Wisely said, but he added that he knew no more about the process.
Regarding the broader investigation, Hill said, "I have been extremely cooperative with the investigation that is going on, providing as much information as possible."
"I am confident that this investigation will conclude very soon and it will be determined that there was never any reason to doubt my expenditures," she added.
Stewart, who also worked as an RA under Hill last year, said the experience of having her as a supervisor had been good.
"I definitely have enjoyed it," Stewart said. "I don't have any complaints."
Wisely, who is a member of Wayne Manor, said the group's interaction with Hill was generally positive.
"Lesley Hill enforced the rules of RLHS to the best of her ability. At times it caused differences between us, but we were able to work well together to overcome those differences," said senior Peter Williams, president of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, whose section is in Wannamaker.
Hill explained that her role is and has always been to support students and RLHS.
"Any allegations made against me in terms of financial mismanagement are false and grossly inaccurate," she said.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.