<p>mimimomx3 - I can assure you that at Vassar they are in no way serving in a parental role. I have no idea what they do at other colleges, but there is not one student or parent who would even begin to presume that the house fellows are there for that reason. In fact, Vassar doesn’t even have RA’s in the dorms - it’s security’s job to deal with noise or parties or whatever, a student will never get another student in trouble. The role of the House Fellow is to simply be around, and they are generally very peripheral to the running of the house. They may host an occasional discussion or lecture, and they are likely involved in weekly study breaks, but they certainly aren’t a substitute parent, an have no disciplinary authority whatsoever.</p>