Student Council Update: Visitations
At the beginning of this school year, Student Council gathered to discuss various issues on campus: mental health (the platform on which our current executive board ran), PIE, advising and visitations. The policy committee voted to revisit the visitations policy and with a general council approval, we’ve worked with members of the administration, faculty and students to formulate a policy that can incite a change in culture.
The policy heads and committee as a whole brainstormed for months to weigh the merits of various policies and ways of addressing the current policies’ greatest flaws. There are obvious problems with the current visitations policy, which no one has tried to address because it would be too complicated and troublesome to change.
At the beginning of the year, Exeter, along with many other boarding schools, was still reacting in the wake of the St. Paul’s School sexual assault case. Even at proctor and student listener meetings, students have shared dangerous experiences in which they felt uncomfortable leaving illegal visitations, asking for legal visitations or expressing their discomfort that they are not encompassed in our current policy because they are not heterosexual or identify as neither a “boy” nor a “girl.” In reforming the visitations policy, we hope to incite a positive cultural change and address all of these problems.
We have come to a consensus that students are much more comfortable leaving a legal visitations session than an illegal one. Whatever can extend and make legal visitations more prevalent would create a safer and healthier climate at Exeter.
The other, most important issue is the heteronormative nature of the visitations policy. Many of the policies in our current E-Book regarding student life are outdated—they do not accommodate for students in general, and are instead based on a gender binary. The dress code revision last year was an important step for our school to acknowledge inclusivity and endorse gender equity in its official rhetoric. However, the dress code is only a beginning; and a visitations policy frames how future, current and past students view the culture of the school and its level of inclusivity and eagerness to accommodate all students without distinction. The current visitations policy assumes that a relationship that requires a private visit is one between a student who identifies as male and one who identifies as female.
Upon discovering this policy, we (the co-heads of the Policy Committee) were incredibly excited to have found a policy that would allow for more openness, freedom in visitations among all students and one that truly allows for a step towards equity.
The hope of this new visitations policy is to create a healthier, nondiscriminatory environment. By opening visitations to longer hours throughout the day, students will be able to have the much needed healthy interactions with peers, regardless of their gender or sexuality. Having doors open with anyone in the community visiting without assuming anything of gender or sexuality, Exeter takes a prodigious step forward in our school’s fight for equality.
We have too often been caught up on what is convenient for us personally in the present or immediate future. We must realize, however, that from our ignorance, the minority is still being oppressed. As faculty advisors who have helped us with this policy have mentioned, “Equality often feels like oppression.”
While the dress code was a “step down” and made dressing convenient for everyone, we should recognize the greater step towards equality that was made last spring. As Exonians, we tend to ignore and procrastinate in all aspects of our lives, but we must do our best not to put off issues of equality. The greatest complaint we have encountered was the students are not inclined to sign in when visiting a room, because it would be too inconvenient or too much of a hassle. If this is the case, we ask that students reconsider their priorities and think of the incredible opportunities this policy allows.
It is our hope that students and faculty alike share the vision towards equality and a safer environment for Exeter. We must forgo our current system, which benefits some and not others and instead be inclusive of everyone in our community. Student Council’s vote last night in having doors open for members of the same dorm (to not assume gender or sexuality) was an optimistic first step. We hope as many of you can collaborate in the discussion of the future of Exeter and taking the right step forward to equality. Please join us for a final vote and discussion next Tuesday and feel free to bring any questions or suggestions to either of us at any time. #nonsibi