University of Virginia Library

Women Students Protest Dorm
Rules In Munford, Gwathmey

New Yorker Magazine

Douglas Day, A Professor Of English Here At The University

"It was pretty funny until I saw the ad," he now claims. "I've been feeling pretty lousy ever since."

Upperclass, undergraduate women
living in the Mary Munford and Roberta
Gwathmey dormitories are protesting the
buzzer system, security policy and other
regulations in the two dorm complexes.

Temporary rules and regulations were
put into effect at the beginning of the
year by the Office of Student Affairs with the
guidance of past policies and the present
residence counselors. As the term indicates
these rules are temporary and are subject to
change by the residents of the area. But change
can only be indicated through the student
government of the Munford-Gwathmey
Association, which was not set up until last
week.

Cheryl Furey, chairman of the
Munford-Gwathmey Association said, "The
major reason for getting rid of or altering the
buzzer system is for the girl's convenience."
When a boy comes to see a girl living in either
of the two dorms he must go to the foyer on
first floor Munford and "buzz" the girl's room.
If the girl is there she will "buzz" back,
indicating that she is in and is coming down.

She must then go down stairs and escort the
gentleman up to her room. As the rule stands
now, all men must be escorted while walking
through the dormitory halls.

Miss Furey, pointing out the inconvenience
of this method commented, "If two girls share
a room, they do not know which of them is
being paged."

Another inconvenience cited by the
association chairman is that the girls in
Gwathmey must leave their dorm and go over
to Munford to receive their male guests. Miss
Furey added, "Most girls, I think are not for
complete abolishment of the buzzer system,
but they would like the system to be altered so
that they would not have to meet male visitors
in the lounge and then escort them to their
rooms."

Mr. Ralph E. Main, Housing Director, said,
"the reason for the buzzer system is to protect
the convenience and privacy of the residents
and to provide security for the dorm system.

Another complaint issued by some of the
girls in the association is that the front door is
locked at 11 p.m. The residents can unlock the
door at any time since they have 24 hour
parietals and a key, but males cannot enter the
dorm after this time without being with one of
the residents.

Tootie Goodrich the head resident counselor
for the two dorms said, "We need more
security." Presently a guard is on duty from 6
to 11 p.m. every night.

Miss Furey commented, "If the girls want
the buzzer system changed it can be done by a
vote of the legislative representatives in the
association. She added, "We cannot vote on the
issue of leaving the door open after 11 p.m.,
because this would entail having another guard
on duty from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. Housing must
appropriate the funds for this additional guard.
Therefore, we can only petition for this
through the Housing Office."

Miss Goodrich said, "Many of the girls are
used to living in the Alderman Road Houses
where there is a front door for every ten girls.
The front door here is for 250 girls. They are
also used to boys being able to come right up to
their rooms. This might be the reason for the
discontent of some of the girls."