Readers of The Daily Free Press should take with a grain of salt the claim made in the article of March 12, 2002, “Guest Policy proposal revealed,” that I am supportive of the reforms proposed.
The present regulations were passed for two reasons. The first reason was for student safety. Prior to the imposition of these regulations, students frequently passed in to dormitories persons whom they did not know, some of whom turned out to be thieves or persons attempting physical assault. If a student wishes to pass a nonstudent in to a dormitory, we want sufficient time to know who that person is and to ensure that the student recommending entry knows the proposed guest personally. Second, we imposed this policy to put an end to the interruption of students’ study time and sleep by roommates thoughtless enough to bring their sexual partners to the room for sessions of fun and games. I had many complaints from students that they were unable to sleep in their own dormitory rooms because of interference by lovemaking roommates. Some of them found it offensive to be put into the position of being voyeurs. Some, I suppose, were sufficiently old-fashioned to suppose that intimate relationships should not be engaged in as public performances.
There were howls of protest when the rules were promulgated, but many more sighs of relief from students who were silent about their dissatisfaction with the old policies because they did not care to be bullied by those publicly opposed to restrictions on guest policies.
After the new policy was introduced I heard from a few parents. Most were favorable to the new policies, but I had very few letters of complaint. Nearly all were from mothers who complained that their daughters would have to go to hotels to entertain their boyfriends over the weekend. We did not take these complaints seriously because it never occurred to us that Boston University was in the business of providing weekend love nests for our students. If students wish to be adults, they can arrange their trysting places on their own. There is also the ever-present option of living off campus after the freshman year.
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