To the Editor:
The faculty’s recent vote in favor of new room visitation policies for upperclassmen, an open-door parietal mandate for Seniors and changes to sign-in times disappoint us on two scores: the first substantive and the second procedural. We believe that these measures are counterproductive to recent discussions of sexual health on campus. Moreover, we are discouraged that faculty members provided no prior warning to student leaders, who have been completely excluded from the process.
One of the most spurious measures is one that would require Uppers and Seniors to leave their doors ajar and lights on during room visits. Supporters of this change often cite house counselor discomfort as justification for imposing new restrictions on parietals. While we respect this concern, we wonder how open doors and brightened lights help resolve it. It would stand to reason that students’ sexual privacy runs in tandem with, not opposed to, the goal of faculty comfort. The new faculty proposal, rather than bring the two goals together, prioritizes one over the other.
Whether or not the administration acknowledges it, sexual intimacy among adolescents is prevalent. _The Phillipian_’s State of the Academy reports that 43 percent of Seniors had had sexual intercourse at the time of the survey. A stricter parietal policy will not discourage sexual activity at Andover—it will simply displace it. Students will continue having sex, but will choose to do so in unsafe places: the Sanctuary, academic buildings or other public areas. Whereas the current system encourages house counselor interaction and checkpoints that deter sexual assault, the relocation of sexual activity to public spaces only does the opposite. As such, the faculty must hold student safety as its chief concern and allow dormitory rooms to serve as a venue for healthy sexual relations. Among the other measures supported by the faculty are those that change final sign-in time to 9:30 p.m. on all weekdays and require upperclassmen to stay in their rooms after 11:00 p.m. on nights before classes. These two proposals send a message of distrust to students. While they may ostensibly encourage better study practices, they only unnecessarily change students’ daily routines. Rather than proactively teaching effective time management, the faculty has simply added more ink to the Blue Book.
Our letter, we feel, encapsulates students’ frustration with the recent policy changes. As Dean of Students Paul Murphy suggested, “Generally, students are not in favor of these changes…” The faculty might be correct to call our dissent predictable, but they should not dismiss it. Had student leaders been given an opportunity to register this protest, perhaps no policy change would have occurred. At the very least, students and faculty could have provided input collaboratively, an opportunity for reflection rather than edict.
We are unsurprised that no student leaders were given forewarning of the impending changes? precedent has shown us that the faculty grow increasingly wary of soliciting our input before major changes. We hope, nonetheless, that this serves as a reminder to younger students of our academy’s imperfections. It is they, after all, who must preserve it for future generations.
Signed,
Clark Perkins: Student Body Co-President, 2013-2014
Junius Williams: Student Body Co-President, 2013-2014
Luke Stidham: Advisor to the Co-Presidents, 2013-2014
**Signatories:**
Jake Pelton ’14
Armaan Singh ’14
Malina Simard-Halm ’14
Iman Masmoudi ’14
Jake Howell ’14
David Cao ’14
Harry Cohen ’14
Logan Blaine ’14
Josiah Legaspi ’14
Melanie Oliva ’14
Doris Nyamwaya ’14
Kate Wincek ’14
Brian Kim ’14
Alex Sweeting ’14
Matt Jacobs ’14
Malka Berro ’14
John Henry Fitzgerald ’14
Charlee Van Eijk ’14
Allison Roth ’14
Meghana Jayam ’14
Djavaneh Bierwirth ’14
James Judelson ’14
Zachary Bamford ’14
Anthony D’Ambrosio ’14
Samantha Goldberg ’14
Laura Bucklin ’14
Andrew Yang ’14
Veronica Hildenbrand ’14
Mandy Reichenbach ’14
Claire Carroll ’14
Alec D’Alelio ’14
Sophia Lloyd-Thomas ’14
Heson Oh ’14
Claire Frankel ’14
Madeleine Lippey ’14
Myracle McCoy ’14
Caroline Chen ’14
Natalie Kim ’14
Sophiya Chiang ’14
Danielle Liu ’14
Kate Hoey ’14
Nekele McCall ’14
Zoe Gallagher ’14
Renée LaMarche ’14
Mary Catherine Nanda ’14
Lily Zildjian ’14
Bridget Higgins ’14
Vabuk Pahari ’14
Jason Canavan ’14
Misty Monteville ’14
Makenzie Schwartz ’14
Poonam Kamdar ’14
Alex Kwon ’14
David He ’14
Molly Magnell ’14
James Falese ’14
Emma Mehlman ’14
Jonathan Chacon ’14
Marjorie Kozloff ’14
Patrick Huber ’14
Amy Zhao ’14
Paul Tulungen ’14
Remington Remmel ’14
Alec Kingston ’14
Grant Bitler ’14
Elaine Chao ’14
Kai Kornegay ’14
Cat Haseman ’14
Jay Tucker ’14
Diana Tchadi ’14
Anika Kim ’14
Sabrina Rivers ’14
Sonya Chen ’14
Madeleine Engel ’14
Matthew Schwolsky ’14
Adella Pierre ’14
Clint Yoo ’14
Scott Diekema ’14
Taylor Chin ’14
Jiay Shida ’14
Olivia Cabral ’14
Henry DeRuff ’14
James Robertson ’14
Rome Arnold ’14
Grant Bitler ’14
Harry Wright ’14
Cole Benedict ’14
Henry Manning ’14
