Effective this semester, Temple has changed its policies for students signing in guests to residence halls. But the new policies, which are evidently rooted with good intentions, could prove to be overly restrictive on students.
As John Moritz reports on Page 2, students can still sign in three guests between the hours of 8 a.m. and midnight, but can only have one guest in the overnight hours of midnight to 8 a.m. The previous policy allowed students to have three guests at all times, as long as the visitors were accompanied by the student-resident.
The university should explore other ways to prevent overcrowding in rooms. A cap on total guests staying overnight in one room, rather than per individual resident, may be one alternative.
Students’ lifestyles are far from an 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. schedule; they work on group projects and study past what a university might deem as normal hours.
The new policy also states that anyone under the age of 18 not enrolled in the university cannot stay at a residence hall between the hours of midnight and 8 a.m., as a result of the university’s examination of the Freeh report.
The latter change could prohibit students’ younger siblings, friends and prospective freshmen from visiting for an extended stay.
Temple’s policy should not allow children under a certain age to access residence halls unless accompanied by a parent or guardian. But the university should also consider allowing guests between the ages of 16 and 18 to stay overnight if a parent or guardian checks them in.
The Temple News commends the university for treating the safety of minors on campus with seriousness. However, Temple needs to consider ways to guarantee minors’ safety, without infringing upon the freedoms of students, who pay a lofty price to live in the residence halls.
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