In light of College Hall North losing visitation not too soon after Drew Hall experiencing the same punishment, HUVisitation project demands change at Howard University. We fight to change the old "Howard Way" of over-policing it's students. Join our effort to free our students of these "shackles" by signing this petition and reading over our 10-point program.We will NOT be prisoners of tradition. 

Visitation and Dorm Reform

Ten Points

Visitation

I.             The renaming of visitation

II.          The revision of the freshman policy

III.       The modification of the twenty-four hour policy

IV.         The prohibition of group-punishment & building suspension

V.            The prohibition of visitation being used to maintain compliance

Dorm Reform

VI.         The revampment of the mail process

VII.      The enforcement of “customer service” in the residence halls

VIII.   The improvement of living conditions in the residence halls

IX.         The standardization of protocol and procedures within the residence halls

X.            The increasing of student control and oversight of dorm and residence life policies

 

I. The renaming of visitation

     The Visitation Project is both a project and initiative created by Alonte Cuffee that sought out to compile research pertaining to the visitation policies of over one-hundred-fifty colleges and universities in the United States. The conclusive research suggests that there two types of institutions that refer to having visitors as “visitation” and those are Historically Black Colleges and Universities and the United States prison system. We are not prisoners nor do we, as black students, believe that this commonality should continue to exist. Before we can even begin to conceptually rethink visitation and rebrand it as a policy that protects students rather than police them, we must first change how we refer to it.

We demand that the visitation policy be renamed the “Guest Policy.”

II. The revision of the freshman policy

     The major claim of The Visitation Policy is that “HBCU visitation policies are anti-black and perpetuate the notion that black students need to be policed.” The claim stems from the fact that these beloved institutions have a history of both oppressing and restricting students - this alone significantly contributes to why there have been so many student protests on this very campus. While other restrictive policies have dissipated over the last several decades or so, strict visitation has remained. The most obvious restriction being the hours in which freshman students are allowed to have guests. Not only are these rules heteronormative and play into both hypersexual and racial stereotypes, but they insinuate that there is a significant difference between freshmen and upperclassmen. We are also adults and we pay the same tuition and as such would like to be extended the same liberties.

We demand that the freshman visitation policy be revised.

III. The modification of the twenty-four hour policy

     Our demands transcend the concerns of the freshman population and consider the impact of these archaic policies on all students. We believe that twenty-four hour visitation should mean just that - there should be no stipulations regarding the time guests must be checked in.

We demand that the “twenty-four hour” visitation policy (currently for upperclassmen) be modified.

IV. The prohibition of group punishment

     Visitation rhetoric is not the only commonality that we have with the United States prison system. The concept of group punishment is another unwanted similarity. As adults, we believe that all students should be held responsible for their actions and their actions alone. Group punishment is ineffective as the actual perpetrators are not held individually responsible thus negating the rehabilitation that discipline is supposed to entail. Students who are free of wrongdoing are being deprived of their liberties because of the actions of someone they may not even know. This is both unacceptable and unwarranted and we seek to ensure that it never happens again.

We demand that group punishment be prohibited in the residence halls.  

V. The prohibition of visitation being used to maintain compliance

     Visitation is often hung over the heads of students to ensure that they are compliant. Often, this entails threats of the suspension of visitation being made in incidents unrelated to visitation such as attending mandatory meetings or being “respectful” to residence staff when the same courtesy is not being extended to you. This unacceptable. While visitation may be a privilege, it should not be one that is easily taken away considering the monetary commitment students have to their residence halls. We are paying for a living space and expect to be able to bring guest into that space - our ability to do so should not be easily compromised.

We demand that the act of using visitation to maintain compliance be prohibited.

VI. The revampment of the mail process

The current state of the mail process on this campus is beyond unacceptable. Students often have to wait days to receive their packages after they have been delivered. The mail rooms have long wait times. There have been incidents where mailroom staff are unable to find packages. There have also been incidents of packages being thrown. Our mail is important and often times contains time-sensitive material. As responsible adults we can take proper steps to ensure that things are being sent and ordered on time, yet still fall short due to Howard University’s inadequate mail process.

We demand that the mail process be revamped.

VII. The enforcement of “customer service” in the residence halls

“Excellence in Truth and Service” is often nonexistent in our residence halls. The resident life staff - including: the graduate resident assistants, the resident assistants, and the concierges often demand respect from the students while failing to be respectful themselves. Often, it seems that they forget this is their job and students are not their children. Students are to either submit to this disrespect or risk losing their visitation or receive some other form of punishment. We believe this to be both unprofessional and a blatant contradiction to the cherished standards of this institution - especially considering the university’s explicit commitment to ensuring excellent customer service. While we do not agree with the sentiment that students are customers, if we are customers, treat us as such.

We demand that “customer service” be enforced in the residence halls.

VIII. The improvement of living conditions in the residence halls

Howard University is very expensive to attend. Howard University requires that most of its first and second year students live on campus. The problem with these two statements is that the living conditions in many of our residence halls are very poor. This includes: the rodents in Towers and Annex, the gnats in Drew, the roaches in Cook, the insufficient amount of laundry equipment in many of the dorms, the inconsistent hot water in many of the dorms, the consistent turning off of water in many of the dorms, etc. These are things that students should not have to deal with considering their monetary commitment. Students in 1968 protested their living conditions, why are we having to do the same in 2019?

We demand that the living conditions in the residence halls be improved.

IX. The standardization of protocol and procedures within the residence halls

Many of the dorms are owned by different entities. This is not the fault of the students and we believe we should be treated as such. There is no reason for discrepancies in policies between the dorms. All students, in all residence halls, should have the same rules. We attend Howard University, not our respective residence halls.

We demand that the protocol and procedures in the residence halls be standardized and uniform across the dorm halls.

X. The increasing of student control and oversight

The conversation around visitation has existed for many years (there are articles detailing students working towards change dating back to at least 2010). This is in addition to students actively protesting dorm living conditions since at least 1968 - the year of perhaps the most well documented protest on this campus. To prevent the perpetuation of these age-old discussions we are requesting that students have a more involved role in the creation, implementation, and enforcement of rules and regulations in the residence halls - perhaps, in a way , legitimizing the dorm councils.

We demand that student involvement in residential hall procedures be increased.  

 

We will NOT be prisoners of tradition.