The Collegian Weekly: The opinion of The Collegian editorial staff
Allow men, women off-campus equally
Issue date: 4/9/09 Section: Opinion
Hillsdale College should begin rethinking its residence policies, just as it has begun rethinking its curriculum. How we live impacts who we are just as much, if not more, than how we think.
Consider if 140 people really should live in one building like animals in the pound. We're not talking in terms of comparison with other colleges, but about what is good. And that isn't.
Consider if it is fair to give off-campus permission to sophomore men and not sophomore women, or to let more men than women off-campus when more women attend and more women apply.
Of the 320 students currently granted off-campus permission next year, 203 are men. That's about two thirds. Seven men and 33 women were denied permission. Those gaps appear even more sexist when you consider that about 53 percent of students are women. That's 85 more women.
We know that the college needs to pay its residence bills, and the only way to do that is by ensuring the dorms stay full. Students complain about this a lot, and every year, however, and it's time someone started paying attention.
If we have more dorm space than students want, the college should eventually disband a dorm. Arguments for college "mothering" of students dim compared to our age and proven ability to build a thriving organic off-campus community. Freshmen and sophomores may need the structure of residence life, but upperclassmen need to exercise self-discipline and independence as prerequisites for real life.
If women and men do not have equal and proportionate opportunities to move off-campus, the college should re-arrange campus housing so that women aren't forced more often than men to live on campus simply because more female on-campus housing is available.
We all know men can live in Koon, and if that would address the imbalance, they should.
Every summer, people who had been earlier denied off-campus permission receive it. It's ridiculously frustrating for them, who often live prohibitively far from campus, to then know they must arrange a place to live from afar and after everyone else have taken the best apartments. If Hillsdale had a Craigslist page, it would help, but we don't.
This policy frustrates everyone involved. It may take a long time to make drastic changes like disbanding giant dorms, but moving men into Koon should be easy.
Consider if 140 people really should live in one building like animals in the pound. We're not talking in terms of comparison with other colleges, but about what is good. And that isn't.
Consider if it is fair to give off-campus permission to sophomore men and not sophomore women, or to let more men than women off-campus when more women attend and more women apply.
Of the 320 students currently granted off-campus permission next year, 203 are men. That's about two thirds. Seven men and 33 women were denied permission. Those gaps appear even more sexist when you consider that about 53 percent of students are women. That's 85 more women.
We know that the college needs to pay its residence bills, and the only way to do that is by ensuring the dorms stay full. Students complain about this a lot, and every year, however, and it's time someone started paying attention.
If we have more dorm space than students want, the college should eventually disband a dorm. Arguments for college "mothering" of students dim compared to our age and proven ability to build a thriving organic off-campus community. Freshmen and sophomores may need the structure of residence life, but upperclassmen need to exercise self-discipline and independence as prerequisites for real life.
If women and men do not have equal and proportionate opportunities to move off-campus, the college should re-arrange campus housing so that women aren't forced more often than men to live on campus simply because more female on-campus housing is available.
We all know men can live in Koon, and if that would address the imbalance, they should.
Every summer, people who had been earlier denied off-campus permission receive it. It's ridiculously frustrating for them, who often live prohibitively far from campus, to then know they must arrange a place to live from afar and after everyone else have taken the best apartments. If Hillsdale had a Craigslist page, it would help, but we don't.
This policy frustrates everyone involved. It may take a long time to make drastic changes like disbanding giant dorms, but moving men into Koon should be easy.
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MH
posted 4/09/09 @ 4:18 PM EST
"Consider if 140 people really should live in one building like animals in the pound. We're not talking in terms of comparison with other colleges, but about what is good. (Continued…)
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