“Hey, can I see your bedroom?” the boy asked.
“So you can what? Awkwardly sit on my bed while a third party makes sure we don’t do anything against Corban standards. Of course! Meet me at five, room 120,” I said coyly.
Well, that’s what I would have said if that special boy, the one I tell my mom about, ever did ask to see my room on open dorm Fridays. But he didn’t, and I thank the Lord for that.
Really. What is the point of this new policy?
“It’s so that the thrill of open dorms is diminished by frequency,” someone claimed.
Supposedly, making it common place will remove the suspense and thrill, but I am not so sure.
I say to really diminish the thrill they should delete the policy all together. After all, going into an opposite sex dorm is not the end-all-be-all of Christian college life. You realize that you can see that special boy or girl any time, at the coffee shop or even a dorm lobby.
If there is still any wonder about why I am so against this, ask yourself what your motives are for going into a boy’s or a girl’s room.
I will not go a step further and say what you are thinking. I know, you know, and that’s enough.
But, I digress. I find that my annoyance stems from the embarrassments that it has already caused me. Like this past Friday when I was overheard talking about things inappropriate for mixed company. Or how on the same night I passed two people making out – real fun stuff!
As much as I love the inconvenience of having random men walk through my hall, I love even more the privacy that I get the rest of the week.
The new policy is pointless. Those who made a big deal of it before are still going to do so. Frequency may make things common, but like one of my favorite teachers said, “You let women raise the hem of their skirts, and they will go right ahead and wear pants.”
Kelsey Shields says
Hmm…
I am no longer living in the dorms, but I did for two whole years. I’ve grown up with brothers, and their friends, and family friends who are boys, and classmates who are boys, and… you get the point.
Then, I came to Corban and realized that unless I fought for a spot to sit in the coffee shop or a small lobby, or left campus (with a car that I didn’t have), there was no place to hang out with mixed company.
Freshman year I had a tight group of friends: another girl, a boy, and myself. During the first couple months of school, we could spend time together outside because the weather was comfortable. After that, we floated from lobby to lobby, never feeling very comfortable.
Lobbies and the Coffee Shop end up being the only “appropriate” places for couples to hang out on campus. Because of this, said locations are full of, well, couples. I don’t have anything against couples wanting to spend time together – but being the only group of friends in the midst of all couples is not the most preferred environment.
All that to say, it is about time that the dorms became a little more “open.” I agree that PVG’s policy is a little bit ridiculous. In order to comply with fire codes, all boy-girl combinations must have a babysitter present. Dorms with self propping doors, however, do not need the babysitter rule. Interesting.
Anyway, I’m proud of Corban for this decision. It obviously needs some refining, but I trust that it will be provided in the future.