Hello. My name is Mary Land. I am 18 years old and I am not allowed to have boys in my room.
Hi. I’m Ben Dover, a 20-year-old sophomore and my girlfriend and I have to sit in the residence hall’s lobby because ladies are prohibited from entering rooms in my dormitory.
These are just two hypothetical examples of problems students here at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University have encountered .
Coming to Florida A&M, many young adults think they’re going to have so much freedom and be allowed to come and go as they please.
They have finally escaped mom and dad’s rules, curfews and over-stringent guidelines. Little do they know, the restrictions are just beginning.
According to the student handbook, there is no inter-room visitation, and guests are confined to living rooms, lounges and designated public areas.
In some residence halls, the lobbies are actually nice and comfortable with couches and a television.
In others, such as Wheatley Hall, the lobby consists of a few cushioned chairs. No one can “lounge” anywhere because you are all out in the open for all eyes to see.
Back home, my male friends were allowed to enter my room and be out of the sight and close supervision of my parents.
Why? Because they trusted me and knew that I wouldn’t do anything.
Even if we did decide to do something, it was our choice and we would have to deal with the consequences.
Here at FAMU, the university doesn’t trust us. They think we are primitive beings with carnal desires to go buck wild if the opposite sex enters our room.
That must be their rationale, because when I tried calling them to get an official reason, I was given the run-around and told the official spokesperson was “out of the office,” and I’d have to come back later.
In older days, when life was more conservative I could possibly understand why the university constructed these rules.
But now, we have moved on to a new day and age.
Other schools that enforced these guidelines have now amended them to placate both them and the student body.
Instead of denying any admittance to dormitories, residents are allowed to have guests they just have to be out by 2 a.m.
Visitors have to give collateral upon entering the room, and if you don’t collect your belongings by the deadline, then you may be kicked out or fined.
Some schools have even, -gasp – created coed living quarters.
What an idea!
Is that O.K.? Can men and women coexist in the same building? I don’t know, that’s pushing it.
The university needs to realize students are responsible and know how to behave around the opposite sex.
Not every minute is dedicated to something sexual.
We do like to talk, play cards and have fun.
Dominique Drake, 18, is a freshman business student from Cleveland. She is The Famuan’s assistant opinions editor. She can be reached at ddidis1@aol.com.