Up until just three years ago, Corban rarely allowed open dorms, though some students still complain about the limited hours in place today. Currently, the rule is dorms are open to opposite genders from 5-10pm on Fridays.
Director of Residence Life Jimmy D’Agosta said when he was a student at Corban ten years ago, dorms were only open to the opposite gender for two hours every other month.
Three years ago, the current ASB officers approached student life and asked if they would consider changing the rule.
D’Agosta said he and the other staff members took many things into consideration. He said the biggest idea they worked around was wanting to make sure open hours will not take away from the community within the dorms.
“We value keeping those communities in place,” D’Agosta said.
He said another important factor in the decision was being sure open dorms will not interfere with students’ studies, which is why the current hours are on Fridays, when students do not study much anyway.
D’Agosta said he does not hear much feedback from students about the rules, which he generally takes as a good sign.
“We’re willing to listen and weigh in what students say,” D’Agosta said. “We’re very open to what students are thinking.”
Carlie Gresham, who transferred to Corban this semester after attending Azusa Pacific and then Warner Pacific, has mixed feelings about the rules.
Gresham said both of her previous schools had open dorm hours during every day of the week and, while she can see the benefits of the hours at Corban, she does find them inconvenient at times.
“If not letting my guy friends come and hang out in my room during the week is going to stop someone from doing something they aren’t supposed to, then I am alright with the no guys in the dorm,” Gresham said. “My experiences at other schools with the guys in the dorms have always been a positive thing though, because there were still limitations such as kicking out the opposites at 10 or midnight.”
Quinn Butterfield is fine with the current hours, but he would not mind if they were changed slightly.
“I think they’re good, but it might be cool if there were more,” Butterfield said.
He said even changing it so the dorms were open until midnight on Fridays would be more convenient so that events like movie nights would not have to be cut short at 10 p.m.
Gresham thinks people “make it out to be a bigger deal than it is, and having boys in the dorm isn’t a big deal.”
Director of Resident Life Jimmy D’Agosta said…
Gresham finds the rule creates a kind of hindrance at times, when she just wants to have her male friends over, and she thinks the boundaries create a sort of “delayed learning” for students’ futures.
“We are adults, and we need to act like adults, but if we are being sheltered, how can we be expected to act without those barriers later in life?” Gresham said.
While Gresham does find the rules limiting at times, she does not completely disagree with them.
“I see both sides of the argument, having lived both sides…and honestly everyone has turned out all right,” Gresham said.