Silber and the Guest Policy

Dear Chancellor Silber,

I was quite apalled by several of the things that you wrote in your letter to the Daily Free Press. The first of which was the seemingly condescending tone which you chose to address the student body with.

As far as the guest policy is concerned I think that it has its pros and cons like every policy in the world. Obviously, you cannot be expected to please all of the people all of the time, but I think that you have even admitted that our guest policy needs tweeking. And I say “our guest policy” because it is part of “our” school. The school belongs to the students and it should reflect that accomplishments, failures, and their wants and needs.

I’ll admit that the current guest policy does provide a safe atmosphere in the dorms and that it prevents much of the eventual crime of an urban city like Boston. However, it does not accurately reflect the student body. You have tried to create a school that produces intelligent, prepared adults who are ready to succeed in the real world, yet you have administered a guest policy that treats us as children. The guest policy is full of so many loop holes an exceptions that in all it is non-functional and only a nuesance to the student body. If I were asked to make changes to the guest policy I can guarantee that they would all be supported by the student body. Changes like doing away with not allowing students to enter dorms that they do not live in after the dinig halls close. I would extend the number of days that an overnight guest can stay from 3 to 5, and I would say that a guest does not need to give notice, since there are always RA’s on duty and they can decide whether to allow an overnight guest just as well as an office secretary.

I’m also not certain as to whether you are aware that there are places on campus where none of these regulations are enforced such as south campus and Bay State Rd. Why are some students not subject to the stringent policies that others are? The main issue is that the students at this school want to be treated as adults who are responsible for themselves. I think that I am perfectly capable of determining who I should allow access to my room and when.

I am also appalled by the tone that you use when refering to students and sex. You assume that we are all hormone controlled entities that have no ability to feel or think for ourselves. You also seem to think that the guest policy prevents people from having sex when they want and where they want to. If I were to want to have sex with someone I could easily find someone that lives in my dorm that would want to, but the majority of BU students don’t do this. I am sure that most of the people that bother their roomates by having sex in their rooms are freshmen who live in the same dorm or possibly even the same hall. This is another instance where I feel that I am capable of deciding with whom, when, and where I have sex. As an intelligent, adult student at BU you should trust me the same way my parents do to make my own decisions about sex. Your job is not to dictate all of those things, and no matter how much you try there will always be a way for the irresponsible to do the irresponsible.

The final thing I want ask you is who are all of these students that you allgedly spoke to about the guest policy? They are certainly a minority at BU if they actually exist. I have always had the belief that you are someone who is unapproachable and that you do not consort with students. Have you ever just walked through the halls of CAS or COM and asked students about their problems and concerns? If you really wanted to know how the students felt you could hold a “Town Hall Meeting” to discuss the guest policy and include parents, faculty, Residence Hall directors, security guards, and most importantly students. There is a way to provide safety to the dorms and still allow students to act and feel like adults.

Thomas L. Johnson 2004