Philosophy with Attitude
Shower with a Friend? Not in UNH Housing...
Before we were married, and when we still lived in the dorms at
UNH, my husband and I ignited a controversy. We lived in
"special interest housing" units called the Mini-Dorms,
of which there are six at UNH; ours was a special interest as
"academic awareness". Marston House was home to about fifty
people, and because it was so small, the bathrooms in four of
six hallways were co-ed (until recently, all six had been, but
that's another story). It had long been a "tradition" for
couples to shower together -- back in the seventies, when the
dorms were built, the motto was "Save water -- shower with a
friend."
However, this was the mid-nineties, and political correctness
had come full-force to the Minis... as had the return of in loco parentis,
a phenomenon which children of the sixties no doubt well remember.
It meant that many of the "freedoms" we had previously taken for
granted were being snapped up before us. We were not prepared for
this to happen, and we certainly weren't prepared for what would
follow.
Our appeal to the Judical Committee:
- We wrote this in hopes that the punishments metted out by the
Hall Director, Molly Green, would be lessened somewhat, through
the circumstances described therein. I think it pretty much
speaks for itself.
Our response to the sanctions given us:
- This was directed again towards the Judicial Committee, who had
upheld a sanction that we felt was most unfair, for the reasons
described herein.
The outcome:
- As it turned out, neither of our appeals was granted. The sanction stuck,
and as a result, David and I decided to get an apartment the next school year.
These incidents, however, took place in October of 1994; one would have thought
that the other residents of the Mini-Dorms -- and indeed, of UNH Housing in
general -- had been well and truly warned about the consequences of showering
with a friend. However, in March of 1995, another couple was caught in a neighboring
dorm showering together. Their sanction? A slap on the wrist -- they were
simply warned, despite the fact that the policy, not even a rule when we "broke"
it, had been in effect for months now, and these two knew full well that they
were in violation. Such is justice at the University of New Hampshire.
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