@carolinamom2boys : “And I’m sure that there are just as many that don’t and are able to follow the rules .”
Part of the big dilemma here for some, certainly for me who lost a roommate freshman year in a rather roomy suite and loved it, is being notified in a manner similar to receiving a summons that one is in violation of a rule one did not know existed.
The line has to be drawn somewhere, though. The easiest broad-stroke policy to apply is that you can only use your side of the room, for the reasons @saif235 pointed out above. It’s fair and equal among everyone in this situation that you only get to use the part of the room you pay for. One person’s definition of “just spreading out” might be wildly different than another’s. Easiest to just prohibit it all together.
If you want to “spread out,” then pay for a single. My college gives you the option if your double is unoccupied to “convert” it to a single. Problem solved. Not to mention there are times when you will be given only a day’s notice in the case of ‘emergency room transfers’ that you’ll be getting a roommate.
I don’t think there was an argument about what to do after notice is given, but the fact is the prohibition on this behavior is not known before the notice of violation is issued.
@Waiting2exhale Without seeing the “warning” , it’s difficult to determine the way in which it was written or delivered.
I’m sure that in this case , as in most cases, there is another side to the story . We really only know one. Maybe I’m the naive one, but I would never assume that it was ok to spread out all over a double room to make it a single . I know of one circumstance where one roommate made his roommate so miserable , and lodged multiple complaints about his roommate in order to have his roommate removed so that he could have a single room. I’m not saying this is the circumstance in this case , but what’s to prevent it in the future once other students learn of the possibility.
Well, yes, that is a sneaky little scenario, and I would indeed be unhappy (were I another student or the parent of the kid whose nerves were so pressed she/he moved out) to find such manipulation was in place. And I would not only want, but push for, constraints on students to commandeer the entirety of what was intended to be two-person lodging.
I’m trusting the OP was simply alone and spread his/her wings, which were then clipped. It’s the simplest scenario for someone who would then turn around and ask ‘what did I do wrong?’
The solution to the scenario described above, which I would speculate to be rare, would be to move the complainer out of the room into another double instead of “rewarding” him with a single at the price of a double.
Assumes facts not in evidence. I am close to 100% certain that it is written in the res life agreement, the student handbook, somewhere. Just because a student did not read it does not mean the rule does not exist. Sort of like the people who complain when I warn them for violating Terms of Service here. 
If anyone knows a school with that policy and wording, I’d be really curious to see it and see how it is worded. Please post here.
My son’s freshman roommate decided dorm life wasn’t for him and moved out the second week of school. My son was told by the residential staff that he didn’t need to live in a sterile looking environment and he was welcome to spread out as long as he was willing to move his stuff back to his side of the room if they had someone else to move in. Before Christmas he was told someone was moving in for the next term, so my son rearranged his stuff before coming home. Seems reasonable on the part of the university. My other son was an RA at a different university and their policy (except for an emergency) was to never enter dorm rooms when the residents were away. Obviously, schools have different approaches. I wonder if it has something to do with the next year’s housing … some schools mandate students live on campus second year so they can do what they want and some colleges are trying to keep residents and have to treat them well to do it.
OK. Not those exact words, but making clear that the student does not have a right to spread out just because a roommate moves out.
@skieurope:
“I am close to 100% certain that it is written in the res life agreement, the student handbook, somewhere.”,
Aah, and thus my invoking of Liberty Mutual Insurance. Are you familiar with their commercials? There is one with a perky woman standing before the camera speaking in high-pitched tones of incredulity at being expected to know that her car coverage is insufficient to cover the damage she has incurred. She makes reference to something along the lines of, “written in small print on page 23 of your policy.”
"Just because a student did not read it does not mean the rule does not exist. " There was no statement made to that effect. Notice of the violation outside of any prior knowledge of it, thereafter mandating that one compl whether there was prior understanding of the rule or not, is what the statement addressed.
I am aware of, and hold only slight issue with, a longstanding tenet which underpins our own nation’s laws: ignorance of the law is no excuse.
“OK. Not those exact words, but making clear that the student does not have a right to spread out just because a roommate moves out.”
Actually, @skieurope, when I read what you posted in #29, I don’t read it as not using the other side of the room if one has a double without a roommate. I don’t think that verbiage makes it clear at all. It gives the school permission to move belongings if the student refuses to do so, it gives the school the right to move the student to another bed/room, it states that the student can’t have another person living in THEIR assigned space (don’t move in your boyfriend as a squatter).
@doschicos At some point, though, common sense just has to prevail. Just like people should be aware that McDonald’s coffee is hot, students who pay for half a room should expect to only occupy half a room.
Anyway, since none of us know what college the OP attends, nor has the OP returned, we don’t know what is stated in that college’s occupancy agreement. Nor do we we know that the “warning” was not really just a simple note to move his/her stuff. Younger users on CC do have a habit of being overly dramatic. 
Really, the solution for the OP is simple: move the stuff. If the “warning” has any consequences, appeal it. All they can say is no.