Did you see a boy walking around the halls of Elam last Friday night, without climbing out of a window for a quick escape when an RA came around the corner?Well, it’s because that is now perfectly legal in the dorms on Lipscomb’s campus.
After listening to the desires of students to have somewhere to hang out with their friends on campus, SGA realized the need for a change in the dorm visitation policy. It conducted an 1,100-person poll among students, and made some suggestions for change based on the polling results to the office of Residence Life.
Residence Life then organized student focus groups, which eventually led to the new policy.
With this much research done on what students want and need, you’d think the policy would be welcomed by all students living on campus. But with any and all changes, some welcome the new and others reject it.
Caitlin Selle, a freshman communication major from Tega Cay, S.C., said she likes that the policy change allows students more leniency, but parts of it frustrate her as well.
“I don’t want to walk from my shower [to my room] in my towel and meet some guy walking in the hall,” Selle said. “So, it’s a nice thing to have, but it’s not like I’m crazy about it.”
The new policy, implemented on Jan. 12, is focused on helping students find gathering spaces and to provide the “opportunity to share their ‘home away from home’ with their friends across campus,” said an email from Dr. Sam Smith, associate dean of Campus Life and director of Residence Life.
The effectiveness of this new policy continues to be discussed, and prompts an inflow of responses.
Sophomore nursing major Ashley Franklin, from Southbury, Conn., enjoys the fact that dorm visitation is held during after-school hours on weekdays and weekends. Franklin suggests having more open dorms on a regular basis.
“Visitation should be, if not at all hours, at least everyday for a certain amount of hours,” Franklin said.
Her reasoning for this suggestions is that it’s easier to have a co-ed study group in the comfort of your own room than in a noisy student center.
However, Sewell resident and sophomore information technology major David Pyle begs to differ. Pyle, a native of Pegram, Tenn., worries that this increased frequency will decrease the significance of dorm visitation.
“When it’s so often, it’s not a special thing,” Pyle said. “When it’s once a semester, it’s cool.”
The frequency of dorm visitations isn’t the only thing being discussed. The concern that garnered the largest amount of response was regarding the increase of residence halls staff during dorm visitation, to ensure a “safe, Christ-centered environment,” said Smith’s email.
Many students debate its effectiveness, arguing that it’s limiting and strict, and want the office of Residence Life to trust them more.
Junior nursing major Brock Lee Lutes associates the word “visitation” with privileges given to inmates.
“When I hear the word visitation, I don’t think, ‘Oh, girls get to come visit my room,'” Lutes said. “I think prison; prison has visitation. I think that we’re all adults here– we’re not going to have sex just because people are going to come in the room.”
Junior Jordan Dobberstein, a finance major from Brentwood, Tenn., shares a different take on this issue, bringing into light that not everyone can be trusted.
“You don’t need open dorms, because there is absolutely nothing you can do in a dorm room that you can’t do outside,” Dobberstein said.
Another concern is that residents have to accompany their guest(s) during the entire visit, from room to room to restroom.
Resident Assistant and finance major Caroline Gallagher, from Goodlettsville, Tenn., responds to this rising matter by answering a few of of the questions, concerns and complaints posed by students.
“We are allowing guests to come into our home (resident halls) for long periods of time,” Gallagher said. “Over time, we will be able to trust [students] more, but we can’t just give students our trust–[they] have to earn it.
“You have to learn that you can’t just have guys hanging out in the dorm without any supervision. What’s an hour that we come around [to check on residents]? I don’t think it’s strict that RA’s just come around. They don’t even bother you, they just walk by your room to make sure everything is okay.
“If you want people in your room, then that’s the small price you have to pay.”
Smith’s email noted his excitement to see “how our students embrace this new responsibility.” However, students argue that this arrangement does not bring about responsibility. Instead, it merely dictates the actions of students, and causes inconvenience to those who do practice responsibility.
Sophomore Claire Sellers, a sustainability major from Columbia, Tenn., expresses difficulty getting to her room after work, since the new policy has the side doors locking at 10 p.m.
“It’s a hassle because they shut the door at ten o’clock at night, and I get off work really late,” said Sellers.
Prior to this visitation policy, the side doors were unlocked until midnight.
Sophomore Jaleeca Yancy, a Memphis native and graphic design and marketing major, thinks that students are responsible for having a good attitude about the policy change, which was created in their best interest.
“I believe that Lipscomb is broadening their opinions on things, and I’m happy,” Yancy said. “It’s time for a change. It can fail, or it could be positive. It’s all up to the students.”