By PATRICK MAROUN
STAFF WRITER
Last December, I was honored to attend the annual President’s Club event at the David H. Koch center at Lincoln Center. While at the beautiful event, I had the opportunity to talk with many of Fordham’s most loyal and supportive alumni, most of whom give around $1,000 annually. Also I met a Gabelli School of Business alumna who, during the course of our conversation cast light on one of Fordham’s most infamous policies in a way that I had never considered before. When we discussed Fordham’s 3:30 a.m. policy, she had this to say, “All they’ve done is prevent cuddling.”
Besides the obvious humor of her remark, it offers an interesting insight into the failed and often misguided nature of Fordham’s guest policies. Clearly the university must have certain rules intended to keep students safe and make them feel comfortable as members of the Fordham community. But as college students — and as citizens — we must be critical of our world and evaluate policies not only on their intended purpose but also on their practical ramifications. We must consider not only what this policy is for but also, and more importantly, what this policy does.
So what does this policy ultimately do? Does it prevent students from enjoying the company of the opposite sex? It certainly does not. So, why does the university not simply be rid of the policy altogether? I asked James, the security guard in my residence hall what his thoughts were.
“[The university] cannot stop people from getting together, but [it] can put rules in place. The rules help [certain] people who are irresponsible by forcing them to think twice about what they might do. [Fordham] wants to give them a chance to be responsible and build good habits.”
I quickly questioned whether the university had the right to impose morality upon its students, but James offered a clarification.
“Most bad things happen at night,” James said.
“The school wants people to be safe. It becomes a liability.”
I think that James has essentially said two things: The university has to protect itself from potential legal trouble and the early morning hours are very dangerous. The second point, while fairly obvious, is the more important of the two. Of course, the university has to protect itself, but it is deplorable for it to protect itself at the expense of its students. Kicking students out of dorms at 3:30 in the morning and expecting them to walk back to their dorms or apartments, sometimes off-campus, compromises students’ safety.
A Fordham employee, who asked not to be named, summed it up pretty well, “The policy endangers the guest. By forcing people to travel home at that time of night — it is unsafe.”
His next sentence is a mixed bag: “[The university] needs to either make the rule one o’clock or eliminate the rule altogether.”
As adult college students, I think that we should be allowed to make our own decisions about who stays in our dorm room and when they do it. I do understand that the university is the owner, and we are the tenants, but I do not feel that this relationship permits the university to control the nature of a guest’s visit. Fordham should trust its adult tenants to make responsible decisions on their own. A person only has the chance to act responsibly if they also have the opportunity to act irresponsibly. Responsibility is a choice, not a mandate.
Fordham should not babysit its students, and it certainly should not endanger them. Students do have a responsibility to the university, but Fordham’s primary responsibility should be to us.
Patrick Maroun, FCRH ’15, is a theology and political science major from Norwood, Mass.