Dorm Heads Voice Concerns Over Visitations Policy Proposal

Student Council’s (StuCo) latest draft of a reformed visitations policy was met with concern from dorm heads Oct. 9.  The most recent version would allow students of all genders in all grades to visit any dorm between 10:45 a.m. and their check-in time without having to sign in; doors would be halfway open during the visit. These rules apply to students of the same-gender who reside in different dorms. The policy also would forbid sleepovers for all students except in some cases for day students such as inclement weather.

This proposal is the latest of many installments put forth by StuCo, as the administration has been attempting for the past four years, to create a more inclusive policy that is applicable to students of all genders and sexual orientations. Despite their agreement that the current policy requires major revision, dorm heads are still not convinced that StuCo’s latest draft is the ideal solution. Many pointed to issues in the policy ranging from supervision and liability to the consequences of potentially creating a more disruptive dorm atmosphere.

"Given the conversations we’ve been having about sexual assault, safety concerns and all the issues of litigation they’ve been talking about in the news, supervision is a huge concern,”

Dow House Dorm Head Amadou Talla said that, though the council is taking “a great step towards changing the heteronormative message,” their proposal still has several flaws that would be unsettling for dorm faculty and likely also for parents. “One of the concerns I have is simply that the visitations would be unsupervised, with maybe the potential to cause more situations that could create unease for students visiting each other,” he said.

Dunbar Dorm Head Jennifer Marx Asch raised a similar point, noting important considerations in light of recent campus-wide discussions. “Given the conversations we’ve been having about sexual assault, safety concerns and all the issues of litigation they’ve been talking about in the news, supervision is a huge concern,” she said. The prospect of completely unsupervised visitations is concerning to many faculty members.

The question of supervision has been considered by StuCo, whose technology committee and the Exeter Computing Club collaborated on an app over the summer to allow students to sign in online for visitations. The app, if implemented, would still alert faculty of visitors in the dorm while eliminating the need for them to check in physically. According to StuCo’s co-vice president and senior Tim Han, the council did not end up incorporating this technology into its proposal, based on suggestions from council members as well as Dean of Residential Life Arthur Cosgrove.

However, StuCo’s co-secretary and upper Elizabeth Yang noted that dorm faculty’s concerns for students extend far beyond their own legal liabilities. “Even if there’s less accountability, faculty members would still feel horrible if something were to happen. I’m very sympathetic in that regard,” she said.

Marx Asch also drew attention to the disruptions that longer visitation hours could cause in the dorm environment. “One of my concerns for Dunbar was just about the noise level and the traffic in and out of the dorm. We’re a large dorm, so we’d have a lot of people to supervise and the amount of noise would be disruptive for students trying to take naps or do work,” she said.

In regards to the recent discussion among dorm heads, Webster Hall Dorm Head Alex Myers noted that student input would be crucial in the future as further revisions are made on the proposal. “I think it is important that all parties share what they are honestly most concerned about—what feels like a risk, what feels like a reward, what feels like a restriction,” he said.

Students across campus have expressed mixed opinions on the policy. Lower Charlie Venci expressed his approval of the proposal but acknowledged possible inconveniences for adults in the dorm. “Faculty would have to check the dorms from 10:45 a.m. until check-in everyday, and that’s a lot for them to handle. If they don’t check the dorms, who knows what could happen,” he commented.

Upper Nat Love, a resident of Will House, explained that the unique visitations policy currently enforced in Exeter’s two all-gender dorms, Will House and Kirtland House, was very similar to StuCo’s most recent proposal and stated that residents have been satisfied with the policy so far. “All of us in the dorm are respectful of each other’s privacy so everyone is conscious of noise level and the number of people they have over at a time,” she said. “I think this policy is good for everyone, not just good for people who might want to take advantage of the relaxed system. It’s on the teachers to be able to trust the students, but it’s also on the students not to mess up and violate the policy.”

Many students and faculty members voiced specific adaptations they would like to see implemented. Senior Alexis Gorfine hopes that the new policy will include extended visitations hours and promote greater inclusivity. “One thing I know the new policy will absolutely address is the heteronormative language, and I look forward to seeing that change, especially since the school has already created all-gender housing,” she said.

Love believes that the implementation of an online system would be a better alternative than students notifying adults in person as some dorm heads have suggested in the past. “Faculty members would have to trust that students are signing in, but at least they would know where students are. I think that might be a nice middle ground because it allows teachers to be a little more aware,” she said.

Regardless of the length of visitation hours, Talla hopes that the policy will lean more towards a system of controlled visitations for all students. “You can’t have anybody at any time in your house, so if it’s controlled at home, it should be controlled here. I just think it should be the same for everybody,” he said. Talla also suggested that StuCo incorporate input from parents, a side of the story that “hasn’t really been explored yet.”

By fostering community-wide discussion about the new policy, Han is hopeful that the Academy will be able to establish an ideal system in the near future. “This has obviously been a very long-term project, but we’re hopeful that we can get it done before the end of the year. It won’t be perfect, just because the dorms by nature are heteronormative, but we’re trying as best as possible to create a more inclusive policy to reflect our values,” he said.