Throughout Halloween weekend, overnight visitors were not be allowed in residence halls.
The same rules will be enforced for undergraduate students through the entirety of Thanksgiving break
Normally, students are allowed to check in three guests per resident into their room during visitation hours. Students are also allowed to host up to two guests overnight if they are over the age of 18 and have their roommate’s approval. However, students cannot have the same overnight guests for more than two nights in a row.
This rule will be in place not only for Thanksgiving, but also for other holidays and break periods at Marquette such as St. Patrick’s Day, National Marquette Day and during finals week the same rules regarding overnight visitation will be in place.
“I am not a fan of the overnight guest rules being changed for Thanksgiving break and I feel like we should still be able to have overnight guests over,” Jane Endeley, a first-year in the College of Arts & Sciences, said. “I feel the same with fall break. A lot of people went home for fall break and I feel like for students who were still on campus should have the ability to check in people overnight.”
When overnight visitation is allowed, students are required to check them in at the front desk of their residence hall before 10 p.m. Additionally, the guests that are staying overnight must be that of the same gender unless they are immediate family members of the resident.
If the overnight visitor is under the age of 18, they are also required to fill out an under 18 overnight guest form along with the normal overnight slip.
The office of residence life did not respond to the Wire’s request for a comment about the reasoning behind these restrictions.
However, some students have suggested it is because of safety reasons, but others have said that the entire idea of not allowing overnight guests creates a safety problem in itself.
“Maybe instead of having two guests overnight, we should be able to have just one guest,” Seth Krakow, a first-year in the College of Business Administration, said. “For safety reasons, I believe people should be able to have overnight guests overnight during Thanksgiving because some students who don’t attend Marquette may not have a place to spend the night.”
The office of residence life did make a slight change in the rules regarding regular visitation. Originally, both regular and overnight visitation were not going to be allowed but the office of residence life decided to allow regular visitation.
“At least they are letting us have regular visitation,” MaryClaire Toomey, a first year student in the college of business said. “Especially for thanksgiving I think some students might be lonely if they aren’t going home to their families,” Toomey said.
Some also mentioned their emphasis on safety specifically relating to the robberies that occurred throughout the past month.
With Thanksgiving break on the rise, residence hall staff have said that students across campus will be expected to follow these rules as well abide by the normal policies and procedures of Marquette University.
While many students have argued against the visitation rules, some have also suggested that the office of residence life should be more focused on safety than visitation.
“I find it quite interesting that we have to deal with all these rules relating to visitation. I understand where the office of residence life is coming from but I feel like they could be using their time to address safety as opposed to visitation,” Jocelyn Hernandez, a first-year student in the College of Health Sciences, said.
Hernandez mentioned her concern on safety over students who are staying on campus for the thanksgiving holiday.
“I mean our main doors don’t even lock when it gets dark. So, while I understand the rules, I think ORL should prioritize safety over a friend coming over,” Hernandez said.
This story was written by TJ Dysart. He can be reached at [email protected]
