The Residence Hall Association is working on a letter and a petition to submit to University officials requesting visitation hours to be extended on the weekends. “Basically what we’re doing is we’re picking up from last semester where Juanita Rodrigue left off,” Gregory Brumfield, government senior and RHA president from New Orleans, said.
Juanita Rodrigue collected the signatures in favor of the new policy, Brumfield said.
“I’m taking it a step further and having a letter sent along with the signatures and putting it in the hands that it needs to be in.”
This is not the first time that someone has tried to change the visitation hours in the dorms. He said he has been hearing complaints about the visitation hours since he was a freshman and wants something done about it.
“This is a fight that has been going on since not only last year, but years before that,” Brumfield said. “It’s been so long and the administration hasn’t even done anything. They haven’t even addressed the situation. Enough students complain about it.”
A letter written by Matthew French, general studies sophomore from Houma and Calecas Hall resident, along with signatures in favor of the new policy are going to be given to Eugene Dial, vice president for student affairs and enrollment services; Judy Daniels dean of student life; Diane Garvey, residence life director; and Steve Escobar, SGA director of student rights and grievances, Brumfield said.
The letter should be completed by the end of this week, but Brumfield hopes to have it sent out as early as Thursday or Friday.
Visitation hours are currently Sundays from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m., weekdays from 1 p.m. to 11 p.m., and weekends from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. The new policy would allow a resident’s visitor to stay overnight or for the duration of the weekend if he or she chooses to with the consent of the hall director and the resident’s roommate.
“What we’re trying to do now is to get a 24 hour policy on the weekends,” Brumfield said. “We’re not trying to tell the administration to go crazy or anything like that. We’re just trying to get that done on the weekends.”
Brumfield said he believes that the current policy is not treating residents as adults.
“It’s sort of an irritation,” Brumfield said. “When you feel like you’re finally on your own, but you’re still not treated as an adult. There’s nothing wrong if you want to bring someone over and they want to stay. We’ve reached a new level where we’re considered as adults, but why can’t we be considered as adults on a college campus? If someone wants to come home at 3 a.m., what’s the problem with that?”
Lauren Weber, freshman from New Orleans, agrees with Brumfield.
“I don’t think visitation hours should start at 1 (on the weekdays),” Weber said. “That’s just ridiculous. On the weekends it should definitely be 24 hours. We’re in college now.”
On the other hand, Mary Evans, nursing junior from New Orleans, is fine with the current visitation hours.
“I like the visiting hours now because they’re not too long or too short,” Evans said. “I wouldn’t like them to be extended because that would mean I wouldn’t be able to be comfortable and do what I would like. There would be too much traffic in and out of the dorm rooms.
