Harvard University used to attract the best and brightest. Now, we’re not so sure. The fact that a couple of apartment-dwelling students are trying to put a roommate out on the street simply because she legally owns a firearm kind of makes you wonder, doesn’t it?
For unreported reasons, the students searched their roommate’s room while she was gone and they found a gun. That prompted one to write to the landlord. “We discussed with Leyla (Pernie) that all of us are uncomfortable with having firearms in the house, and that their presence causes anxiety and deprives us of the quiet enjoyment of the premise to which we are entitled," the offended housemate wrote.
And these are graduate-level students who say the mere presence of a gun causes “anxiety” and “deprives” them of being able to enjoy living in the apartment. Really?
Well, Pernie took offense of her own. Why had her roommates violated her privacy by searching her room anyway?
The landlord requested police assistance to determine whether Pernie was a lawful gun owner (she was), but that apparently wasn’t good enough for her roommates.
When Pernie told her roomies that she was adequately trained in the safe handling of a gun, that didn’t allay their fears. Not only were they worried that someone might break in and use the guns to kill them, but they also said they were scared it “might go off by itself.” Like we said, these are people who are supposedly bright enough to get into Harvard.
Pernie is fighting the eviction, which happened to come right around the time of final exams, and has instead suggested that her scared housemates should be the ones to move. Good for her. She hasn’t crossed any line here, real or imaginary, and if they’re so all-fired worried, let them take it upon themselves to leave.
