Up until the beginning of classes this next year, if you lived on campus, there was an "intervisitation policy"- if there was a guy in a girl's room, or a girl in a guy's room after 1am, or 2am on weekends, there was a rather hefty fine and, after 3-5 infractions, possible suspension. Then at the end of last year, they decided that this would be changing- mostly because they were also changing the configuration of the dorms on campus.

Previously, there had been an all-female dorm, an all-male dorm, and a co-ed dorm. It worked well, everyone got to live in the kind of environment they wanted, and there were no huge complaints. They were also building a new building, to open this fall, of apartment-style rooms- a co-ed dorm that had more of an "adult" feel (Juniors and Seniors only). All right, understandable. But instead of leaving the homeostasis of campus at one male dorm, one female dorm, and two co-ed dorms, they decided some things needed to be changed. So, this next year, there is going to be one dorm for all the freshman (co-ed by wing), one all-male dorm (where, I might add, all the priests live... no comment.), the "new dorm" with Jrs. and Srs, co-ed, and one "catch all" coed dorm.

Among the reason for all of these changes is to supposedly build "community." How sequestering the entire freshman class is supposed to do this, I'm not sure. Beyond these physical changes, however, they are also changing the "intervisitation rule" to a "visitation rule"-- in essence, a campus-wide curfew. When I questioned the head of student life about this, here was his explanation:

"First, the "intervisitation rule" reeks of a sex policy- which we, as a school, are not justified in having. It is not our place, nor our responsibility, to regulate our student's activities and morality. Second, the previous rules assumed that all couples are heterosexual- and we don't want to discriminate on the basis of anything."

It was at this moment I felt a sudden urge to pull out my hair. The hypocrisy in just those two sentences are amazing to me. And what's more, the school is now complaining that they will have to be hiring more rent-a-cops to "keep students safe" come fall. What a crock. All those rent-a-cops really do is walk around the hallways after curfew and try to bust those that are breaking it, not that they do a very good job.

Yes, there are those that have been busted. But speaking from the perspective of someone who has had their fair share of half-naked, half-drunken all night orgies in their dorm room and still managed to be on the good side of the administration, there is going to be no way in hell that these rules will be enforceable, much less a help in any way shape or form. Especially when putting the entire freshman class in the same dorm. As if date rape, drinking, drugs, and all other do-it-in-college things weren't enough of an "invisible problem", they're going to be dangling a huge carrot in front of a bunch of 18-year-olds, most of whom have never been without parentals or the need for self-restraint.

This just does not make sense to me- but perhaps it is because I am capable of thought that is not fed to me from the pulpit. Of course it's not a sex policy.