Visitations Between Dorm Units Start Up
By Alia Bonanno, Otto Do, Sophie Raskova, Ellie Ana Sperantsas and Valentina Zhang
Dormitory heads informed students on Oct. 23 that they could now host one roommate from outside their dorm unit. In an email to the entire student body on Oct. 30, Dean of Students Brooks Moriarty further revised the policy, allowing visitations with larger groups of students depending on individual room capacities. Mask and social distancing measures continue to apply.
In his email to all students, Moriarty wrote, “Room capacity is the best guideline to use for all visits, whether involving students of the same dorm unit or students from other dorm units.” Consistent with guidelines for other shared spaces, Dorm Heads assign room capacities that will range from two to five people based on room size.
Gould House dorm head Kate Hernandez appreciated seeing students following the guidelines strictly. “Mask wearing is something that I feel like I am so impressed by because I think [it’s a hard thing] to do and to maintain,” she said.
“It’s become a culture to follow the rules,” upper Dorothy Baker said. When comparing the current situation to last year, Baker added that due to the room capacity restrictions, “the environment is definitely different and a little bit more individualized.”
Webster dorm head Alex Myers agreed that students wore masks but observed that students were “definitely not six feet apart.” Myers also noted that the interconnectivity of dorm life has lessened with the implementation of the new rules. “People keep more to themselves… especially new students,” he said.
In Langdell, dorm head Patricia Burke said that “what used to be a fairly free-flowing social dorm has just taken a little bit longer to happen, but it feels like now we’re there.” Burke also noted that rule violations have not been an issue in Langdell.
Prep Frankie Michetti noted that, because his dorm unit does not include any preps, previous restrictions prevented him from bonding with those in his class. “With this new rule, I’m allowed to actually visit some of the preps in Wentworth, instead of only being able to talk to seniors and uppers,” he said.
Upper Cecilia Treadwell also appreciated the long-awaited policy change. “I’ve been waiting to be able to hang out with [my friends]... It took a really long time for us to get to this point, and I think it should have been done sooner,” Treadwell said.
However, Treadwell recognized that many of their peers have not adhered to guidelines. “People are not following [the rules],” she said. “It’s so hard, and we’ve been here for so long now. We followed them for a certain amount of time, but then we got sick of them.”
Senior Helena Mandeville also observed that students have not always respected the health and safety guidelines. “I think that for the most part students try to, but I also know that behind closed doors masks are a more lax rule,” Mandeville said.
In addition, Treadwell noted the mental health consequences of the health restrictions. “Our mental health on campus is slowly deteriorating as [a result of] the strictness of the rules… We’re not able to talk to or visit our friends in other dorms.”
Despite differing perspectives on guideline adherence, many students believe that the relaxed policies have aided in unifying their dorms. Senior Charlie Preston said that the policy revision helps his dorm, Ewald, feel more like one community instead of many different dorm units.
Students are grateful for opportunities to connect with friends, and lower Sanisha Mahendra-Rajah looks forward to future steps towards social bonding. “I’m hopeful that the next step is to allow day students into their dorm’s common room,” she said.