Make Good Use of Student Input

Tower Editorial
November 18, 2011
Filed under Quill

Wednesday night, the President of our University met with students for the sole purpose of hearing our comments on undergraduate issues for the first time in University history. He listened to what we had to say about the issues on all of our minds, including single-sex dorms. We were able to talk to the President in an informal environment where there was no pressure to necessarily agree or disagree with his policies. 

We are proud that we are at a place where our University can have Town Hall meetings. Where students can have dialogue with the University administration and express their opinions. When it comes to single-sex dorms, however, we need to realize that we won’t be able to change this University policy. We will be a school where every residence hall will either be male or female and that’s the way it is.

Instead of dwelling on this policy, let’s dwell on things we will actually be able to change.

We should think about ways in which we would like the University to compensate for the lack of social interaction that single-sex dorms may potentially cause. We need places where we can meet up to study, talk and eat 24 hours a day. The Pryz is the main student center on campus, but it closes at midnight on weekdays and 2:00am on weekends. The Library is never open past 11:30pm. Leahy is open 24 hours, but it’s often difficult to find a computer when we really need one, and the downstairs computer labs close at 12:00pm. Because of these time restraints, we used to go to each other’s rooms to get together, but with the new single-gender residence halls being grandfathered onto campus, that will no longer be an option.

We, as a student body, need to continue to express the need for more 24 hour space to President Garvey and the administration. We need to tell them that if they take away one privilege, they should try to add another. We are now limited in our dorm spaces and we need places that can make up for that. We have to come together as a student body, accepting the fact that single-sex dorms are here to stay, and use opportunities such as the Town Hall meeting to make sure the administration knows what we want, and what we need to happen on campus sooner rather than later.