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Nate Harris

Daniel Pai begins the StuFac meeting.

Two weeks ago on Monday, September 17, tensions grew between administration and students in a Stu-Fac discussion about the new inter-dorming policy. The meeting was intended to give students the opportunity to express concerns directly to members of the administration. Many students left the discussion increasingly frustrated by the administration’s failure to honor the Stu-Fac constitution and solicit student feedback before enacting a major policy, and with further questions about the rationale behind the changes. In response to the clear concern of the student body, Dr. Arthur Gibb, dean of community life, promised to revisit the policy with faculty and students.

Students and faculty gathered again on Monday, October 1 for the presentation of potential revisions to the policy created by an ad hoc committee of faculty and administrators. The committee considered feedback from faculty and students, and developed a proposal for a new policy. At the recent Stu-Fac, Dr. Gibb and Mrs. Heather Perrenoud, dean of residential life, explained the proposed changes and students and faculty present were able to respond.

The changes proposed that students within the same dorm will not be required to prop the door open when visiting one another, and that inter-dorming visits between members of the  same gender may occur without checking in from 8 a.m. until duty hours. During duty hours, all students must check in with faculty or proctors when visiting another dorm. All inter-dorm visits will still require the door to be propped open with a Hotchkiss trash or recycling can and the overhead light to be on.

While the proposal was initially met with applause, students and faculty raised concerns about the way in which the new policy upholds restrictions based on a gender-binary system, and discussed the challenges the policy may cause students who do not identify within the gender binary. Hannah Lothian ’19 said, “As students, we need to be challenged, and part of that challenge is being put in situations where we have to be mature.  That means a policy that recognizes that there are students who do not identify within the gender binary, and we need to be a community for all students, not just students who do.”

This week, the Stu-Fac committee gathered student input and composed a student impact statement responding to the revised policy. Mr. Craig Bradley, head of school, and the administration then made the final decision to adopt the new policy, which Reilly and Pai announced to the student body in Friday’s auditorium.

NEW DORM VISITATION POLICIES:

COMMON ROOM VISITING

All students are welcome to visit with peers in other dormitories’ common rooms from 10:30am until 15 minutes prior to check in (or study hall when applicable), provided a resident host is present. Guests are not permitted to wander in dormitory corridors.

INTER-ROOM VISITING

Inter-room visiting among all dormitories promotes learning friendship, partner or group study, and community among students. All students have the privilege, although specific times and frequency vary for members of different classes. Students found misusing the privilege or in violation of the visiting policies will face disciplinary action which may include suspension of visiting privileges.

Intradorm (within dorm) visiting

Residents of the same dorm may visit each other at any time with the door closed, overhead light on (subject to lights out restrictions; all students must sleep in their own rooms)

Interdorm

All non-residents visiting from another dorm must have the door propped with Hotchkiss trash or recycling can, overhead light on

During the day:

• 8:00am until Duty Hours, same gender students can visit without checking in

Evening:

• Once Duty Hours begin, all students** can inter-room visit, but checking in with faculty or proctor on duty is required of all students. If the faculty member or proctor on duty cannot be found, the student and guest must wait outside the faculty member’s study or in the common room.

Evening Duty Hours:

Sun, Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri 8:00pm – 9:30pm (Upper Mids & Seniors)

Wed 7:00pm – 9:30pm (All students)

Sat 8:00pm – 10:30pm (All students)

• No cross-gender inter-room visiting is allowed until the end of the first marking period (except fall 2018).
• Students participating in study hall may not have visitors

**Preps and Lower Mids may participate in cross gender inter-room visiting on Wednesday and Saturday evenings only.

• Proctors in lowerclass dorms may close their doors when hosting visitors during study hall hours (all other rules still apply – check in/out, overhead light on).
• Students are expected to conduct themselves in a way that honors our commitment to creating a residential environment characterized by safety, trust, and respect for all. While a dorm room may feel more private than other dorm spaces, such as a common room, it remains a shared space in which community members should feel comfortable entering or walking by. It is not an appropriate space for sexually intimate behavior. Additionally, during study hours, hallways must remain quiet for those who choose to study.
• Any special requests outside of these rules may be considered by the dorm faculty on a case by case basis.
• The number of visitors allowed in a room is always at the discretion of the faculty member. Students may be asked to move to the common room if a faculty member feels the number of students or activity in the room is inappropriate for the space.
• During the daytime, dorm policies are gendered in the gender binary dorms. For daytime visiting, residents of the all gender dorm may host any student with the door propped with Hotchkiss trash can. Residents of the all gender dorm seeking daytime visiting in other dorms should speak with their dorm head.
• Due to concerns involving health, safety, sleep, and inclusiveness, sleepovers are not allowed. Exceptions may be authorized during periods when few students remain on campus for the weekend.