New Visitations Policy Trialed; Students React
On Saturday, Mar. 10, Academy dorms Wheelwright Hall and Merrill Hall implemented a pilot visitations policy that will run for the next two weeks. The procedure was created in response to a campus-wide push for a less hetero-normative policy.
The pilot replaces the old visitation rules by establishing gender-neutral visitations. During visitation hours, all Exonians outside of the pilot dorms, regardless of gender, will be required to obtain permission from the faculty member on duty before entering a student’s room.
The Student Council Executive Board, Student Council advisers and the Dean’s Office collaborated on drafting the policy. According to senior, Merrill Hall proctor and Student Council co-president Menat Bahnasy, the ultimate goal of the new policy was to be more inclusive of all members of the community. “Another goal is the de-stigmatization of visitations, hopefully making it more normal for students to interact with each other, form relationships and avoid the current pressures of requesting visitations,” Bahnasy said.
Visitation hours are from seven p.m. to eight p.m. on Sundays through Thursdays, seven p.m. until check-in on Fridays and eight p.m. until check-in on Saturdays, which is the same as the current policy. In addition, Exonians can obtain visitations from one p.m. to five p.m. on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. If someone fails to obtain permission from a faculty member before entering another’s room, they will receive the same disciplinary action as stipulated under the current policy.
Some praised the pilot as an effective advancement towards inclusivity that also allowed more hours for visitations. “There is this romantic connotation behind getting visitations, but the new pilot takes away any assumptions both students and faculty can make about sexuality,” lower and Merrill resident Fiona Madrid said. “By making everyone ask for visitations, it takes away the potential pressure of someone to come out as LGBTQ+ if they wanted to get V’s with someone of the same gender.”
Although some agreed that the pilot creates a more inclusive community, the new policy has also raised concerns for students in the dorms piloting it. Aiyana Brough, a senior in Merrill, believes that the new policy did not promote inclusivity to any significant degree. “Compared to the old policy, it seems that the only substantial change besides changes in visitation hours is that now students, regardless of gender, are subjected to the same uncomfortable procedure,” she said. “Making it harder and harder for students to explore intimacy with each other will only force them to do so in less safe ways. I’m not saying we should just let kids do what they want, but the innate lack of trust displayed by the administration doesn’t exactly encourage mature and trustworthy behavior either.”
To address this issue, Brough proposed having a digital check-in sheet accessible to faculty members rather than having a system in which students ask for visitations in person with a faculty member.
In addition, according to senior Clara Lee, a proctor in Wheelwright, many were concerned that because the policy will only be implemented for two weeks, dorm residents might avoid it by choosing to see their same-gender friends outside of Wheelwright or simply avoiding visitations altogether. “We’re actually trying to get some concrete data,” she said. “I hope that in the future there would be something that would come from it.”
The new visitations policy also seems to be an impediment for day students. According to upper Claire McGrath, recently affiliated with Wheelwright Hall due to the pilot, it is more challenging for day students to make friends than it is for boarders, as day students do not have a small community they are immediately welcomed into due to a shared living space. As a result, she believes that day students have close friendships across campus and compelling a day student to affiliate with just one dorm infringes on one of the best parts of the experience. “Day students find their space all over campus and in multiple residencies,” McGrath said. “With the new V’s policy, I fear this unique feature of day student life will no longer exist and make the day student experience more difficult.”
Despite these concerns, many were hopeful for the future of the visitations policy. “I know that there has been talk of plans being made to use the V’s pilot—piloting a few different versions, some boys’ dorms, seeing how that affects the number of visitations,” Lee said. “As a senior I hope part of the legacy my class leaves behind is to help push the V’s policy in a more gender neutral policy.”