Ryan Johnson, sophomore biological systems engineering major, enters East AJ through the front door. Students can enter East AJ primarily from the front door. The side doors are locked to residents.
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“I know a lot of girls feel unsafe walking to a door that is farther away, specifically at night when they have to walk past the dumpsters to get inside that entrance,” said resident Alison Rieck. “(Administrators) should be looking out for our safety, rather than our sense of community.”
However, prior to the enactment of the policy, several safety assessments were conducted to assure the new door policy did not endanger student security in any way.
“Virginia Tech takes safety quite seriously,” Sax said. “This policy could not have been instituted originally without passing university safety policies. Holding a safety assessment of the building after the enaction of the policy is quite a redundant process because this had to be done for it to be implemented in the first place.”
But not all of the unexpected consequences are negative.
The debate over the new policy has cultivated a conversation between those working to have their voices heard — a development that administrators like Sax hope will carry over to future years.
“When we think about the success of the residential college, we are not seeing it after this year or even next year, but after a generation of students go through it,” Sax said. “(Students) are at the university for a limited amount of time. To be told that this is a long-term project, that is when there becomes a disconnect in the conversation.”
The residential college of West AJ will have to collectively decide what kind of community it wants and whether one policy or another is ideal for achieving the goals of the community. According to administrators, this is part of the inner-workings and appeals of the residential college model.
“The (initial) planning committee loved the idea,” said Shushok. “but now there is a real community which must make the decision if it is to be changed.”
For Shushok, community was the initial point of the policy, and so it will take community to get the policy withdrawn.
“The single entry concept is a method to practically and symbolically strengthen engagement and commitment to one another,” Shushok said. “I like the idea very much, but I am not a member of the residential college of West Ambler Johnston.”
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A version of this article appeared in the Feb 21 issue of the Collegiate Times.
Leave a comment 19 Comments Write a letter to the editor
All letters to the editor must include a name, e-mail, daytime phone number and affiliation to Virginia Tech. Affiliation includes: year and major for students; position and department for faculty and staff; current city for alumni and parents.
I'm a college student and I need to find something to be angry about since there are no good wars going on right now.
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Also, I absolutely hate having to go through the main lobby to get to my room, because I always end up seeing the demon that tells me to burn things.
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I'm a cranky old townie who is bored about complaining about taxes. wah wah wah
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Someone call the wambulance
After spending time and money and creating a student housing shortage this is the result of West AJ
Oh yeah safety is important /s
Shushok commented on this issue, saying that he thought the ultimate decision will come from the community, and not just the administration.
“Unless your definition of administration consists of the governing entities of the residential college,” Shushok said. “Strong elements of self-governance are fundamental to residential colleges and (West AJ) has several governing bodies which will have to weigh in and decide (what to do.)”
The students upset by the policy have prompted communication between residents and administrators. A town hall meeting was held within the residence college after the policy was implemented to allow students to have their opinions heard in a face-to-face forum.
Oh goodie let's see..... will the administrators listen to those little college students
Will it go to DSA or CSA then University governance?
LMAO that's what you get
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When I was involved in the college council of the Honors Residential College (in East AJ), complaints such as these would be directed to the council, and we would then discuss these concerns with the appropriate faculty, staff, or administrators. I don't know about the specific operations Residential College at West AJ, but knowing their governance structure, I would expect their council would employ a similar approach for addressing feedback.
In response to the issue at hand, I think it is important to consider that good ideas are not always immediately obvious as such and it can take some time before the (full) benefits are realized. Good policies aren't always convenient, either. If this policy does not seem justified, respond productively: start a conversation with the house/college council, the college's faculty fellows, or Housing and Residence Life staff. Before dismissing a change, try to figure out the motivation behind it.
If you are inclined to criticize, just remember that a great number of faculty members, staff members, and administrators are invested in the success of the community. As such, I doubt that a change such as this would have been enacted capriciously.
I do wonder how the policy was introduced to the Residential College at West AJ, as from this article I get the impression that it was implemented suddenly and without much dialogue. Maybe someone can speak to how the circumstances affected the policy's inception.
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Thanks for the thoughtful comment.
The policy was introduced to the entire community in the welcome back e-mail at the beginning of the semester. I knew it was going to be a big deal when I saw it.
As for the safety issue, VTPD is doing a threat assessment on the claims. I have never felt unsafe on campus at night, personally.
Another note, there is not a single "dorm" at Virginia Tech. They are all "residence halls".
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Really? With all the nice stuff you get in this dorm, you complain about having to walk an extra 20 yards to get to the entrance? Grow up, you entitled brats.
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In response to the petition, Dr. Sax called the residential college narcissists and racists.
Previous to reading his comments, I had no idea any racism was going on in the dorm because I was never notified. If he felt it was a problem, then he should've brought it up at a more appropriate time.
Moreover, I'm a female. The alley that we have to walk through past the creepy white vans, dumpsters, and obscenely large bushes is ill-lit and scary. I used to walk through the wing to get to my side (the south side), but now I have to walk past half the building fearing that when I am attacked I won't be able to identify my attacker because the only lights in the alley are on either side of the doors like little lanterns.
Also, we were never notified by Housing. Dr. Sax is a bit wordy and he sends out weekly emails at least a page in length; he'll talk about half hour long youtube videos, middle eastern academic talks, dorm events, and one time he mentioned the doors. For weeks, people banged on the wing doors to get in because their cards "weren't working." For such a drastic change, we should've been notified officially through Housing not in an email that most people don't take the time to read.
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“I certainly support your right to complain, vent, inter alia. I'm sure you'll have many constructive conversations about this policy with your housing staff and the good people of res life. I'm glad we'll talk about our community, since there have been several reported and many unreported incidents of racism in our building. Egregious, no? None of the signees of this petition reported them to us. None seem to care or notice. None have expressed this very engaged level of righteous indignation publicly and with such verve. There are currently no petitions to challenge this behavior. No one is demanding change. No one is showing any solidarity with the victims. No one is talking about it.
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This has gone on since September, in, I'd say, a very comfortable silence. Everyone believes him/herself a bystander. I noticed that the “principles of community” was cited in this petition (among many others cited out of context). Please reread this document. Had it been read carefully, I think our priorities here would have been very different. To use this document to support your case against the locked doors (in a public petition, no less) is simply an exercise in narcissism. Please consider what the Principles of Community document is advocating. 200+ people feel a policy is not working after a couple of weeks (convenience? change?) and this merits a petition. It's your right and I support it. Although, imagine how this may sound to others on campus or in other communities? Racism (written and spoken) endures in myriad ways in our community, and no one sees anything wrong with how we're treating members of this community (after one whole semester). Does anyone even notice? Indeed no one is suggesting change or sees any problems. It simply is not discussed. However, please feel free to continue to inundate Joe and Sam with your concerns about the doors. For those of you interested in changing our current culture of complicity and silence, please direct your concerns to me, or your Associate Principals, we would be delighted to help.” -Dr. Sax
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One more thing on his racist point: this is another excerpt from the same email Dr. Sax called us narcissists and racists in. It includes a link to another Collegiate Times article.
"Yet, as you know, this campus has an uncanny ability to make certain people feel like outsiders. From the Collegiate Times in 1992: http://spec.lib.vt.edu/archives/blackhistory/timeline/dodging.htm. Anything changed?"
So tell me, students: has anything changed since 1992?
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Jealous? Cry more.
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Totally agree with you - I hate walking in the dark near the vans, trees, etc to go through the main entrance and then have to pause (in a not so well lit area) to swipe my key card. The wing entrances are much more well lit and in my opinion, safer.
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Huh? What the.....
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Thanks again for the article.Really thank you! Cool.
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