Newspaper Page Text
Page 17/The Maroon Tiger/August 31, 1984
Crawford Talks About Visitation
Old customs die hard. This is
true of the visitation policy of
Morehouse College. Right after
the Civil War the Freedman’s
Bureau and white missionary
groups started some of our
historic colleges. One of their
rules for students was the gover
ning of male and female
beFiavior. They did this
emphasizing that it was part of
Christian development.
Today, the visitation policy of
the Northern missionaries has
persisted in most historically
Black institutions. This immortal
rule has been the subject of
concern and a bitter pill for the
modern Morehouse man to
swallow in the last four years.
Assistant Vice President for
Student Affairs Raymond Craw
ford has answered some pointed
questions posed by the Maroon
Tiger concerning this explosive
issue among Morehouse
students.
1. What is the purpose of
visitation? What is the ad
ministration’s rationale/ think
ing about visitation?
The purpose of the visitation
program is to provide a vehicle
for Morehouse students to visit
the female students of other
colleges in a framework that
promotes harmony. The
program includes set hours for
visting in the dorms. This is to
ensure the safety of the ladies.
The program in general ensures
that there will be minimal in
terference with the study
programs and classes of both
male and female students of the
various schools. That’s why the
visiting times are regulated — for
freshmen, visitation is from 6:00 -
11:45 p.m. on the following days:
Fri. thru Sun.; for up
perclassmen, the hours are 6:00-
11:45 p.m., Thurs. thru Sun.
Leaving the dorm at 11:30 at
night permits the young lady
time to get home safely, and
ensures that she will get enough
rest for her classes the next day. It
also relieves her of the burden of
forcing the young man to take
her home when he would rather
stay out later. Many an argument
has been avoided by having a set
hour for the ladies to be in by. It
also sees to it that the male
students get to bed in time to get
plenty of rest for their classes.
Our society is "co-ed” and
there are rules that govern how
men and women interact. By
having a program such as visita
tion we make sure that the
similar kind of order is kept. In
the late 1960’s a university in this
state was pressured by the
students and forced to change
the rules concerning visitation
and the hours the male students
could visit in their dorms.
Formerly, women had to be in at
11:00 p.m. on school nights and
12:30 a.m. on weekends. Male
visitors had been permitted in
the lobby but rarely in the rooms
— then only under special
regulations. The female students
who experienced this radical
change reported that at first they
were greatly applauded by all the
students. "Freedom at last,” they
said. But later the women felt
that it was a burden having to
remain presentable atall times in
the dorm on the off chance that a
male student would be in the
hall. The women could come
and go at all hours of hte night,
true, but they found there was
no one to escort them to their
cars, and the lights in the parking
lot had been dimmed for the
night. So, after a few months of
transition at this university, can
you guess the results of on-
campus life? Well, it may surprise
you, but life went on very much
the way it had before the
changes. There were few
changes in student’s lifestyles.
They kept the old rules, only
now, it was voluntary, not man
datory. The above situation
'would also apply to non-coed
colleges.
2. How do you respond to
The April ’69 Sit In . • .
(Continued from page 5)
that they would ask.the Board of
Trustees not to accept the
proposal previously endorsed by
the Morehouse student body
(their initial decision to mergeall
six institutions under the name
of Martin LutherKingJr. Univer
sity).
Apparently, there was a mis
understanding between what
the student body proposed on a
collective basis to be handled
systematically, and what the
protestors demanded as im
mediate fundamental changes.
Yet, the various news media
twisted reports of the incident, in
order to make this student
protest appear representative of
the entire Morehouse College
student body.
The plans for the next Board
Meeting, was held in New York
on May 12,1969, and was kept a
secret for security purposes.
The 28 students of Morehouse
were later banned from further
study at the College.
It is apparent that these stu
dent protestors were at least
following the philosophy of Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr., for
violence never occured
throughout the entire
demonstration in ’69. It was
reported later that several
buildings and pathways were
painted with such slogans as
"Black control of Black schools”
and “Martin Luther King Univer
sity - Now!" In addition, several
flyers concerning "Black
Awareness” heavily circulated
the campus.
But in the end the Board was
able to bring the school back to
normalcy after having been
"imprisoned” for 29 hours.
Although it was said that
Morris Brown and Clark
Colleges were involved in the
student protest, both colleges
denied having supported the
confrontation issue.
students saying they are mature
enough to handle the respon
sibilities of visitation?
While in some cases it is true
that they are mature enough and
that they can handle visitation
without regulations, it is not true
in every case. Generally,
students need some standards
and rules to live by. Can you
imagine what it would be like
without rules? Most students
come to Morehouse from
families who have brought them
up according to standards of
behavior. We at Morehouse wish
to continue that high behavior
standard. Ours is an era that is
very, very permissive. In the past
20 years colleges have gone from
very strict rules, e.g., co-eds not
being permitted to wear slacks
even to and from physical educa
tion class — to a relaxation of
many rules of dress and
behavior. The schools are reflec
ting the new permissiveness. But
many young people have found
that the new permissiveness
makes them feel unloved; leaves
them with no sense of being
cared for, which generally results
in a confused sense of purpose
and a lack of direction. The same
students who want total freedom
are often the ones who find,
when they get it; that it doesn’t
bring the happiness that they
sought.
3. Why do other schools’s
outside the AUC not have such
STRICT rules?
I cannot speak for the other
schools in the AUC, but
Morehouse College has always
had rules and has found them
essential to the well-being of the
students. Society has rules that
we all must follow and maturity is
recognized when we live within
these rules. Morehouse College,
and I personally, care a lot about
the students — not just about
their academic performances, or
their dorm assignments, but
about the whole student.
Strictness of regulations should
never be interpreted by the
students at the College pitting
itself against the students. That’s
not the case. I have examined the
rules at Morehouse and will
continue to study them even
more. The purpose of the rules
are:
•to give student life direction;
•to give students a sense of
recourse — i.e., a person (me) he
can come to see when there are
problems — there are rules to
cover most situations that will
arise; and,
•to let every student know the
first day he gets to the College,
that certain things are expected
of him and that he as an adult,
must abide by certain
regulations if he wants to stay at
Morehouse College.
If rules were not stated
periodically, then the only way a
student would be able to even
find out what the rules are would
be by accidentally breaking one
of them! That’s why we have
rules, and they are clearly spelled
out in a new student handbook,
which should be available for
distribution soon.
•4. Have you heard results
from students on visitation?
Yes. The comments I have
received have been positive. The
framework of the Visitation
Program works. It allows
students, both male and female,
to accomplish their primary
purpose — to gain an education.
But, it also permits socializing
and the creation of friendships,
which are just as important as
gaining an education of getting a
degree.
"A sense of community” is an
important part of every person’s
development. John Donne
wrote, “No man is an island, unto
himself.” At Morehouse College
we don’t want the students to
feel that we, the Administration,
are inhibiting their interactions
with others. Visitation actually
promotes togetherness.
5. How do you respond to the
statements that visitation is
another way of the administra
tion usurping students’ freedom
on campus?
Recommendations on the
Visitation Program came from
my office. As the Assistant Vice
President for Student Affairs and
Director of Resident Life, I take
responsibility for the program.
However, we do look to the
students for their comments on
the program. As you know, we
have Resident Assistants, called
RA’s, in each dorm. They are
student floor leaders. They play a
very positive role in student
leadership, and, at my request,
they provide valuable "feed
back” from the students to this
office. We consider this feed
back as we plan and implement
programs relative to student life
at Morehouse. To answer your
question specifically, the Ad
ministration never tries to
“usurp” students’ freedom. It
simply tries to permit students
freedom, within a flexible con
text — a context that can res
pond to the needs of the
students, and at the same time
make it easier for them to gain a
quality education. I hope the
Visitation Program helps to ac
complish this aim.
6. Who is responsible to man
date decisions on this matter?
The Vice President for Student
Affairs, Mr. Robert Williams, and
the Assistant Vice President for
Student Affairs, myself, in con
junction with the President, Dr.
Hugh M. Gloster, are responsi
ble for decisions relative to
student life at Morehouse
College.
We are fortunate in having an
able President who is vitally
interested in the happiness,
success, and well-being of all
Morehouse College students.
His interest is reflected in the
active part he takes in the
decisions that affect the students
at Morehouse.
The Vice President, Mr. Bob
Williams, is totally dedicated to
providing the kind of leadership
required to improve the quality
of student life at Morehouse. I
too share Mr. William’s dedica
tion. We both came to
Morehouse for one purpose and
one alone — to make student life
better at Morehouse College.
We look to you, the students, to
join us in our common cause.
Thank you for taking the time
to interview me.
*A reproduction from March
1984.