New Amnesty Clause Added To the E-Book
The visitations policy in the 2016-17 E-Book has been amended to ensure protection against disciplinary action for students who leave an illegal visitation out of concern for their personal safety or out of discomfort with their choice to violate the visitations rule. Though it is expected that all students will follow the long-standing visitations policy, the new addendum reflects the Academy’s emphasis on student well-being as their primary concern and therefore encourages students to leave the room and seek an adult if faced with an uncomfortable or unsafe situation, without fear of disciplinary consequences.
As is done each summer, the E-Book was reviewed, updated and revised to reflect current practices and policies, according to Dean of Residential Life AJ Cosgrove. These changes were overseen by Dean of Students Melissa Mischke, who worked with the new interim Director of Student Wellbeing Tina Sciocchetti and the other members of the dean’s office. The change in the visitation policy, though only officially added to the E-Book this year, came after several years of discussion surrounding the appropriate response to students leaving illegal visitations for safety reasons.
The question was initially raised three years ago during a dormitory proctor meeting. Proctors reported that some students were choosing to remain in an illegal visitation they felt uncomfortable or unsafe in, rather than face the potential disciplinary consequences that may come with getting caught while leaving the room. When asked at that time, Cosgrove responded that there was unwritten rule that “if they were in a situation where they were choosing to leave because they felt uncomfortable or unsafe, they would not face disciplinary consequences.” But until then, he recalled no such questions being raised and he was not aware of any policy in place to address them. “Dean Mischke and I felt like it was important for this response to be stated [explicitly] in writing in the E-Book,” Cosgrove said.
The change also comes after a year-long effort from Student Council (StuCo) to establish an open-doors visitations policy that would emphasize gender-neutrality and inclusivity. Tony Ryou ’16, who served as a head of StuCo’s Policy Committee last year, said “we were looking for ways to incite a positive change to Exeter’s sexual climate by making it more inclusive and safe.” Though the proposed change was never implemented, some students reserve hope that the addition to the E-Book will pave the way for future reform in this direction. Lower Grace Grey said, “the ideal policy would make everyone, of all gender identities, feel comfortable getting visitations.” However, she recognized the challenge of achieving this and expressed satisfaction with the recent change “because it helps foster a safe community.”
As part of the Academy’s larger efforts to prevent occurrences of sexual assault on campus, the revised visitations policy helps place students’ safety and well-being at the focus. Director of Studies Brooks Moriarty was careful to point out, however, that “no one thinks this alone prevents sexual assault.” Moriarty hoped that the change will empower students to make safe choices without worrying about disciplinary consequences and added that any potential abuse of the policy is “outweighed by the essential ‘good’ of keeping kids safe.” Given that the school’s primary responsibility is to ensure student safety, it sometimes must prioritize this duty above doling out disciplinary consequences, especially if these consequences have resulted in students choosing to remain in possibly dangerous positions rather than risk being caught. “There may be instances when student safety and rules have an uneasy relationship and don’t line up perfectly,” Moriarty said. “This is one example …and so it makes perfect sense to prioritize student safety with visitations.”
Though some faculty members and students felt this policy change was long overdue, many recognized that even before it was added to the E-Book, it was already in practice. History instructor Michael Golay found it unlikely that a dean or faculty member ever would have instituted a disciplinary procedure against a student who left a comprising situation during illegal visitations at the risk of being caught. “It’s been perfectly clear to me for a long time that that wasn’t really an issue,” he said. “The deans did a good job about that.” However, Golay also noted that “this [change] should’ve been done a long time ago.”
“I think putting it in print will help clear up confusion and make people feel like they have more of an ability to leave a dangerous situation without disciplinary repercussions for themselves.”
Even for students who heard through word of mouth that they would not be punished if caught leaving an illegal visitation in which they felt unsafe, uncertainty existed around the unwritten rule. Upper Emily Green, though she knew about the unofficial rule last year, shared confusion with many of her peers as to whether it was actually practiced since it was not in the E-Book. “I think putting it in print will help clear up confusion and make people feel like they have more of an ability to leave a dangerous situation without disciplinary repercussions for themselves,” she said. Ryou emphasized the inadequacy of the rule existing merely as a spoken assurance from the administration, rather than as a part of the E-Book. “There’s a difference between the rule being “known” and actually being a part of the school’s rulebook, not to mention the fact that many still didn’t know about it last year,” he pointed out. Ryou recalled that before the official addendum, many students felt pressured to stay in the room despite how uncomfortable they felt, a situation which according to him, “only escalated the issue of sexual assault on campus.”
Most students considered the new rule a positive addition and thought it could help students feel safer. Senior and Student Council President Matthew Robbins described it as “a fundamentally good change.” Despite the policy being “a little ambiguous,” he believed it “does provide assurance to people that they won’t be penalized when facing a very tough situation.” Additionally, the policy has the potential to “prevent some terrible things from happening,” according to lower Olivia Ross, though she expressed surprise that it was not already a rule.
Though students were generally supportive of the new policy, most were quick to point out that it would not come close to truly preventing sexual misconduct on campus. Senior Jaden Wood said, “Ultimately, this will not stop sexual assault completely, and probably nothing in the future will, but it is a step in the right direction for administration.” Similarly, senior Connie Cai felt that the change will by no means fix all of the issues facing our campus regarding sexual assault, but it serves as a helpful measure.
Lower Euwie Park simply stated that she is “unsure if this is the best course of action to fix these problems,” while lower Chimenum Tasie-Amadi raised the possibility that “people will get unauthorized visitations and then be able to leave and avoid disciplinary action.” However, senior Hillary Aristotle felt that while there is a chance students might abuse the rule, “you’ve got to be a pretty selfish person to do so because then you’d flat out be breaking the only safety net out there for people who actually need it.”
While the visitations addendum has been widely supported, students have reiterated their demand for greater measures to address sexual assault on campus. “There are many more issues surrounding sexual assault that still need to be addressed more directly, such as the prevalence of seniors pursuing preps in their first term at Exeter, or the expectation of intimacy in certain situations such as fives or ‘let’s go watch a movie,’” Herness said.
While the Academy continues to adapt its policies in response to this sexual climate, its ability to keep student safety and wellbeing as its top priority will be paramount. As students and faculty alike have agreed, the updated visitations policy is a step in the right direction, largely because, in the words of Stenor, “rules shouldn’t be more important than students’ safety.”