Portfolio: Segregation at Union College

SEGREGATION AT UNION COLLEGE

Originally Printed in the Union College Clocktower, Spring 2005
by Adam Dobbins

"Why doesn't the faculty at Union College trust the students to enter the opposite sex's dorm?" I was asked this question by a young Christian woman who had recently received her college degree from a prestigious Christian university. "That's an amazing question," I replied and at the same time, I didn't have a good answer. It is a well-known fact that a young person's time in college is one of the most vital parts of their social development. Students at Union College are being denied this right by the administration by not letting students of the opposite gender socialize in each other's quarters. I guess the $20,000 a year students spend on tuition doesn't buy them the right to spend time with their friends when they want.

"It's just nice to have the option to do homework together, play games, watch movies, or just talk. People will argue that students can do that in the café or the library, but it is just not the same. If we are old enough to vote, go to war, or decide what to do with our lives, we should be able to spend time together when and where we want," said Union junior Lauren Brendel. Newbold College, an Adventist College in England, lets guys and girls in each other's rooms between 2 p.m. and 10 p.m. everyday after they've attended school for six weeks. So now, is the administration at Newbold a bunch of sinners and anti-Adventists since they have joined the rest of the 21st century? That's your call. After speaking to many Union students, the Newbold College system seems to be a very popular idea.

After much research, I found that is NOT a sin, nor is it unchristian for a young man or woman to spend an allotted amount of time in the same room, even if it's where they sleep. If a person looks at or spends time around alcohol, it doesn't make him or her an alcoholic. So with that in mind, if boys and girls are allowed to visit in each other's room, it doesn't necessarily make them sexually active, nor does it make the girls magically pregnant. If this were true, then infertile middle-aged women would be making a dash for Union's dorms. "When, and if, a student decides to become sexually active, they will find a way to do what they want no matter what. So why not treat at least the upper classmen like the adults that we are." said Union junior Brian Weed.

It's hard not to wonder how much enrollment would go up if Union dropped their currently strict standards. We have to think how many students have turned away from attending Union simply because of the stringent rules applied to the dormitories. On the other hand, the dormitory regulations may be very appealing to some parents who are sending their children off to college. Since their children are no longer living under their watchful eyes, the dorm regulations may be seen as comforting. In this aspect, because parents have much influence over where their children will attend college, enrollment may also go down. Instead of college being a stepping-stone into the real world, these sheltered students may experience a bit of shock when they graduate and go out on their own. Teenagers come to college not only for educational and spiritual reasons, but also for freedom. They don't come to school to be oppressed. "It's impossible to teach responsibility without giving responsibility," said junior Dustin Hackleman.

These kind of stringent rules have seemed to spawn things like the "petting zoo" in the Rees Hall lobby: Students get together in the lobby and have nightly groping sessions. Sounds classy! Also there are the random make out sessions in Inko's, the television room of the cafeteria. Just last week I walked in to eat my lunch and saw a young lady straddling a male student in one of the booths as they locked lips. Needless to say, I lost my appetite. Also, we might as well change the name vespers to "The Friday Night Backrub." Many Friday nights we look across the pews and see certain couples feeling each other up with head rubs and back rubs. This also happens in class on almost a daily basis. Although this is normal for Union, in the real world these acts would be considered extremely inappropriate and lewd. "When scanning my card in the cafeteria, it doesn't put me in the mood to eat when I see the student cafeteria workers becoming one right in front of me," Weed said.

"It's so hard to date with the dorm rules because couples end up doing things like driving to a parking lot just to be alone to talk. I actually know a couple that went out to talk in a parked car because there was nowhere else to get privacy and ended up getting mugged. Relationships need privacy to be natural and you don't get that at Union. The big reason Union will never change its rules is because many of our constituents (alumni, donors, and parents) would be shocked if the school didn't segregate," said Union graduate Cassie Martsching.

Statistically, students who live on campus perform better academically than those who live off campus. Many other universities have caught on to this and are providing facilities on campus for students to have the freedom they would have off campus while improving their chances to do well. UNL and Nebraska Wesleyan have recently built on campus apartments to keep their students on campus. Union seems to be promoting the opposite. After speaking with many students it is evident that the thought of moving off campus makes them salivate. There is no option for students at Union College to stay on campus and still have the freedom that is normally given to mature young adults. So with all of this in mind, Union College is making gender segregation a higher priority than their academics. Union is a Christian institution, but we must keep in mind whether these regulations are helping or hindering the students academically.

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