An attempt to strengthen community for Virginia Tech's residential college seems to have partially backfired, angering some students and spurring the creation of an online petition.
Beginning this semester, university administrators have limited door access to residents in West Ambler Johnston. Now, residents of West AJ may only enter the dorm through the main entrances of the building, while all winged entrances remain locked.
The purpose of this policy is to increase student interaction and develop a stronger sense of community. West AJ is a residential college, meaning most students apply to live in it and it has a unique governing structure.
“The residential college model deals a lot with building community and having a family aspect rather than a dorm aspect,” said West AJ co-president Erica Bennett. “If people are funneled through the main doors, it will increase random interactions.”
Several years ago, associate vice-president of Student Affairs, Frank Shushok, formed a planning committee for the residential colleges of East and West AJ. Faculty, staff, and students from the university made up the committee, which met twice a month for two years.
During this planning stage, the decision was made to have fewer entrances to the building. The committee agreed to institute the policy based on other residential college models in the country, such as those at Harvard and Princeton.
Many students are upset with the sudden change. Some do not understand why the policy was implemented second semester, when all entrances were accessible last semester.
“I just wonder why they decided to do this now,” said freshman Jenny Boyd. “If (administrators) were trying to create a stronger community, it would have made much more sense to do it at the beginning of the year when people were trying to make new friends and meet more people.”
The policy was supposed to take effect in August, at the beginning of the academic year, but a simple mistake kept that from happening.
“Our college was supposed to have the entrances on the wings of the building locked from the beginning of the school year,” explained Benjamin Sax, Faculty Principal of West AJ. “However, a small bureaucratic oversight kept them open last semester.”
Students have responded by circulating a petition, created by International Studies major Bijan Peters.
The petition is to allow residents to enter West AJ through all doors, including the wings around the residence hall. Around 300 students have signed it so far.
Peters suggests the policy might actually have a reverse effect than the one intended.
“While interactions in the lobby may increase, the interactions within the dorm itself seem to have decreased,” Peters said, explaining that less people entering through side doors means less interactions in the hallways. “After hearing similar complaints from many other residents, I decided to work toward making a change.”
Though the number of students who have signed the petition are not the majority of the residents in West AJ, the level of reaction from the students came as bit of a surprise.
“There has been a lot of anger from the students which I can understand, because we suddenly changed their way of life,” Bennett said. “I knew it was going to be an issue, especially from the students on the first and second floors because they are directly and immediately affected by it. I just did not expect it to be as big of an argument as it has become.”
Some residents also feel the administration didn't seek out their opinions regarding the change. Though there were students who sat in on the planning committee, there was limited discussion with current West AJ residents prior to the finalized resolution.
Several students believe it was an unfair arrangement, rather than a compromise between residents and administration.
“We were given no say in the matter and we live here,” said freshman resident Sammy Banks. “We pay a good amount more than other students to be able to live in West AJ, so I think we all deserve some sort of a say.”
The decision was made by individuals on the dorm's planning committee. Now, the faculty principal and associate principals, working alongside the house councils and the college council and senior fellows, will ultimately look for a process to resolve the disagreement.
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.
“Students were given the chance to express their opinions and it was certainly engaged,” Sax said. “We spent three hours going back and forth, even getting angry. It empowered residents to express their opinion clearly and openly.”
Sax said that the issue would continue to be addressed.
Another town hall meeting was held Tuesday night.
“I think it is good to take the concern seriously so, if anything, we can talk about what this community means to those involved,” Sax said.
Students are also concerned that the extra time spent walking past a wing entrance to a main door may threaten their safety at night and that the prioritization of community over safety may have missed the mark.
“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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