Suicidal Roommate/Straight A semester

by Tyler Shaffer

There are many urban legends around the country, some are more serious, and some are just so farfetched that all you can do is laugh at them. More than a few of these legends serve as warnings to kids and they are usually told by the elders in society. And then the kids go and spread the word. After that gossip does the rest. Some of these legends are very old, so old in fact that the time period in which they came to be is a mystery to most of us, then some are fairly new to the world and are still being passed around from mouth to mouth.

The legend that I picked was the Suicidal Roommate/Straight A Semester. This is fairly new legend that has only been around since the 1970’s. But nevertheless, it has made its way around the country and almost every college student knows of the suicidal roommate legend. The spread of this rumor seems to come from mainly other students and older graduated students who just want to keep the legend going. The first-place students hear it is before they go to college, either the parents say something to the child to warn them that its false and not to be fooled by some upperclassmen looking to pull a fast one on them. The second place it comes from is when the student is already in college. They will probably hear it from one of their fellow classmates. If it's not being told to them then the rumor is being told around them.

are many different variations of this rumor. All of the rumors have the same basis but when it comes to the fine details, that’s where the differences come into play. One of the rumors states that it has to be your roommate, and another says it can be a close family member or friend. Also, there is a stand-alone rumor that says if you witness your roommate kill themselves then you get a 4.0 but if you don’t see them do it, then you only get a 3.4. those are just some of the differences between these variations of the same rumor. The differences between these versions of the same rumor may have drastic or subtle differences. But the very interesting thing is that different versions of this rumor are passed around at the same school depending on how big the school is and the size of their student population.

Links for further research:
Woot:
https://www.woot.com/blog/post/the-debunker-will-you-get-straight-as-if-your-college-roommate-commits-suicide

Snopes:
http://www.snopes.com/college/admin/suicide.asp

College bound:
http://www.collegebound.net/content/article/college-urban-legendslies-students-love-to-tell/19214/

Work Cited:
http://www.snopes.com/college/admin/suicide.asp

Williams, Andrea http://www.collegebound.net/content/article/college-urban-legendslies-students-love-to-tell/19214/

Jason http://list25.com/25-most-popular-urban-legends-still-being-told/

Jennings, Ken https://www.woot.com/blog/post/the-debunker-will-you-get-straight-as-if-your-college-roommate-commits-suicide

Lucier, Kelci Lynn https://www.thoughtco.com/if-roommate-dies-do-you-get-a-4-0-793692
Image: http://paragraphfilms.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/dead-man-on-campus.jpg?w=545

Urban Legends: Suicidal Roommate / Straight A’s

Author: Hal Pierre Livingston

An urban legend is a humorous or horrific story or piece of information circulated as though true. Usually the one purporting around, telling the story, has no clue or is vaguely related to the person who originally told the story. There are thousands of urban legends out in the public right now, some true some false. Some examples of urban legends are Bloody Mary, the belief that Walt Disney’s body isn’t dead and is frozen, and the myth that alligators inhabitant the sewers of New York City.
        According to the Bloody Mary myth, if you turn off the lights and say Bloody Mary three times in a mirror, you will summon the spirit of Mary Worth. Mary Worth was a woman who was said to be killed execution style, for being a witch. The myth about the sewer gators states that several alligators who were brought up from Florida to be kept as pets in New York City, grew too big and violent and escaped into the sewers where they now live freely. This myth dates back to the 1930’s, and has been proven false but is still being circulated around the United States.
The Urban Legend I chose was Suicidal Roommates/ Straight A’s. This myth says that if somehow your roommate or suitemate dies, you receive a 4.0. Prior to this research assignment, I would have argued to the end that this was absolutely true. Coincidentally my suitemates and I were talking about it at the beginning of the year and were making jokes about one another saying that we better watch our back. I personally thought this was a well-known rule. This Urban Legend have been proven false but different versions are still being told to this day. Depending on where you from, the stipulations may be different. Not all versions of the myth specify that the roommate has to die. Some versions actually say that the death of a parent, or other close relative, or anybody who is important in the student's life, also qualifies. Some say that if your roommate commits suicide in front you then you get a 4.0, but if you didn’t witness it then you only receive a 3.4. This just proves how easily things can be manipulated and taken seriously by society.


Work Cited
• http://www.snopes.com/college/admin/suicide.asp  
• http://www.collegebound.net/content/article/college-urban-legendslies-students-love-to-tell/19214/. 
• www.Akorra.com 
• Brunvand, Jan. “The Truth Never Stands In The Way Of A Good Story”. Chicago, Illinois. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data. Year 2000. Web.13 Oct. 2013.
• http://list25.com/25-most-popular-urban-legends-still-being-told/ 

Further Research
http://www.snopes.com/college/admin/suicide.asp - the website gives the most information about the urban legend of getting a 4.0 if your roommate commits suicide specifically.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_legend - Wikipedia gives the initial origin behind urban legends in general.
http://akorra.com/2010/03/04/top-20-urban-legends - This websites gives a variety of urban legends to read and look into.

Straight A’s for the Semester If Your Roommate Dies

Author: William Cain

Cover of Dead Man on Campus
MTV films, 1998

An urban myth, or urban legend, is an inaccurate story that is known by a wide spectrum of the population. “One tell-tale sign of an urban myth is that everyone seems to know someone who knows someone who had the experience in question, but no one has any verifiable proof” (Rockler-Gladen). A popular example of an urban legend, which is thought to have originated at Vanderbilt University, is known as the “Legend of the 4.0.” The legend states that if a student’s roommate dies, then they will receive straight A’s for the academic semester. In 1998, the movie Dead Man on Campus made this a popular tale for college campuses all over the United States.

However, with this urban legend, and the same with countless others, there is more than one version known. If you hear this legend on more than one college campus, the odds that they will be different is high. Some variations include an accidental death and death from a disease such as cancer or AIDS. Other variations include less than a 4.0 average for the semester, death of someone close to the student other than the roommate, like a family member, or the occurrence of the death while the student is in the same room.

In 1997, a graduate from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, named Charlie Kovas, recalls of the tragic event when the student, who was on the football team, fell out of his dorm room window to his death below after an agonizing fight with his girlfriend.

"People said, 'Oh, that's awful,' " Kovas said. "Then they said, 'I wonder if his roommate will get straight A's?' We heard that the girlfriend got all A's, and I can tell you with certainty that people believed it" (Vigoda).

The example of the football student falling from his window and a couple others make people believe that the “Legend of the 4.0” actually does exist. One semester when a young man at Alfred University in New York hung himself in the bedrooms, a mother of one of the five other roommates called the school and thought her son was eligible to receive a 4.0 for bereavement.

While it is believed that some schools will offer consideration and time to grieve for students who come in contact with these situations, there is no evidence that supports the “Legend of the 4.0” or that states any university has a policy regarding it. There is no college that is believed to give good grades to students for the death of a roommate or someone close to them. 

Works Cited:

Rockler-Gladen, Naomi. "Urban Legends about College Life." Suite 101. N.p., 2 Nov. 2008. Web. 10 Oct. 2012. <http://suite101.com/article/urban-myths-about-college-life-a75863>.

Vigoda, Ralph. "A College Myth Dies Hard/ Dead Roommate = A's? Only in Hollywood." Philly.com. Philedelphia Inquirer, 20 Sept. 1998. Web. 17 Oct. 2012.

Dead Man on Campus. 1998. Photograph. Dead Man on Campus. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Web. 18 Oct. 2012.

Links for Further Research:

Vanderbilt.edu – This website gives information that leads to thoughts of the legend being formed at Vanderbilt University.

http://www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/Anthro/Anth263/legend_of_the_4.htm

Akorra.com – This website shows the top 20 urban legends and gives some background information on some of the variations that come about with the “Legend of the 4.0.”

http://akorra.com/2010/03/04/top-20-urban-legends

Snopes.com – Snopes.com is a website that gives information on many urban legends. It highlights a good many variations of the legend.

http://www.snopes.com/college/admin/suicide.asp