COLUMN: Logic behind SGA resolution flawed
Last week, the Student Government Association passed a resolution opposing the Residence Life policy requiring paperwork to be filed with and approved by the residence hall director (RHD) in order for guests to spend the night in the dorms.
While the resolution’s idealized outcome is a good one, the logic behind it is flawed. The resolution hinges on premises that “leasers [sic] have the right to invite guests into their residences whenever they so choose,” that the “implementation of this policy extremely lacks transparency that should be afforded to students who pay rent,” and that “more freedom would encourage students to act as adults and be responsible for themselves and their guests.” Furthermore, the resolution points out that nowhere in the implementation of the policy was student safety cited as a reason for the policy.
The problem with the resolution is that in the Residence Hall agreement, the “lease,” the policy that RHD approval must be received is clearly stated. The policy is on the Residence Life website and should have been thoroughly read when students signed their housing agreements. As lessees, students agree to abide by these rules, and if they do not like the rules, then they should not live on campus.
That being said, the office of Residence Life needs to examine what this policy has accomplished. In the past, overnight guests were required to sign in upon entering the dorm after a certain time, giving the university a record of who was staying where, adding a security blanket in case something were to happen. The university would know who was staying where, and individuals who acted inappropriately while staying overnight could be dealt with.
Under the new policy, students are more likely to circumvent the process as long as they know their roommates will not object, and most roommates on campus will not. This means that students are now having guests stay overnight with no record of who is staying where, causing potential headaches for Central Michigan University police and administrative officials in the event of a problem.
In talking with several students who live in dorms, this has been confirmed. Their roommates do not care if they have a friend spend the night, and instead of going through the trouble of filing paperwork, it is easier to just sneak someone into their room.
I genuinely believe that the Office of Residence Life had students’ best interest at heart when implementing this policy, but it appears that the ramifications of the policy were poorly thought through.
While the university has the right as a lessor to place this policy in the housing agreement, it is in both the university’s and the students’ best interest to go back to the policy that was previously in place.
Editor’s note: Nathan Inks is the president of the College Republicans.
