The Office of Student Life announced this Wednesday that it will begin restricting inter-house sleeping on Friday nights. The new restrictions join Thursday dining restrictions as part of a campus-wide effort to increase the cohesion of house communities.
“Here at the Office of Student life, and in every master’s residence across campus, we’ve been feeling like we aren’t doing enough to help students build the kind of community that makes these four years special,” wrote Office of Student Life Dean Stephen Lassonde. “We want to help our students get closer to those they’re already close with – much, much closer.” The policy will mostly be enforced in form of blocked swipe access after 8 P.M. on Friday nights, although Lassonde added that masters reserve the right to “random” bed checks “if we feel like something’s up.”
Students expressed mixed feelings on the changes.
"I, personally, am outraged," Hugh McGrory '16 said. "I take my right to commit drunken misdemeanors with impunity very seriously. How am I supposed to enjoy peeing in a bush when I can look up and see right into my blockmate's window?"
“I can definitely see where the administration is coming from with this new regulation,” said Susie Krauss ’17. “I personally like to keep my one-night stands inside a small circle of people I see twice a day, so it’s great news for me. In today's hook-up culture, we forget the importance of feeling close to our sexual partners. What better way to foster that feeling than to cohabitate the same entryway?"
While the policy has given rise to strong emotions on both sides of the issue, some students reacted with simple confusion.
“Wait; was that not a thing before?” Kirkland resident Mike Giraldi ‘15 said. “I could’ve sworn they’ve been doing this for, like, 3 years already. Whatever. It’s nice to have it put into writing, anyway.”
Shortly after the OSL’s announcement, Winthrop House administrators announced the new regulations would not factor into their standing request for Lowell to allow more backdoor stuff.
