Miami University Associated Student Government (ASG) unanimously passed bills in support of changing the one-door policy and distributing informational fliers about sexual assault resources at their meeting on Oct. 9.
The Ingress Policy, better known as the one-door policy, requires residence halls to restrict access to all but one door from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. The university implemented this policy last semester in February 2018.
Since the change occurred, there has been backlash from students who say the policy makes them feel unsafe.
ASG sent out a poll in March 2018 asking for student opinions about the new policy. Fifty-nine point six percent of respondents said the one-door policy made safety worse or much worse, and 37 percent said it had no impact on safety.
Eight-hundred and fifty respondents gave personal stories within the survey of how the policy negatively affected them. Some respondents said they felt scared walking home at night because they had to walk around their building instead of using the closest door.
The ASG senators presenting the bill said the university's reason for implementing the policy was to make it easier for the Oxford and Miami police doing their rounds on campus. They also said it was to make it easier for RAs to monitor who comes into the dorms late at night.
Passing the bill shows ASG's support in changing the policy but does not mean a change will occur. They wrote the bill to show students still care, and senators hope to work with Miami's administration to change the one-door policy moving forward.
Although ASG realizes it will likely not change to the way things were before the policy was enacted last spring, they hope, at the very least, the policy can be examined on a case-to-case basis because each dorm has different needs.
They also suggested student input be taken into consideration if the policy is changed or revoked.
ASG is circulating another survey to students living on campus in an effort to gauge current opinions on the policy. The first question asks for a student's year in school, and they hope to show that even though first-years never experienced the old policy, they still have an opinion on the topic.
Additionally, the safety committee presented a flier at the meeting outlining campus resources for survivors of sexual assault. The flier lists confidential resources such as the Student Health Services, Student Counseling Services and Sierra Clippinger, Miami's representative from Women Helping Women.
All faculty, staff and RAs are mandatory reporters, so if they are told about an assault, they are required to report it.
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Other confidential resources include the Miami University Police Department and the Oxford Police Department.
The committee will hang the fliers in residence hall bathrooms, and they also hope to get permission to put them in bars and restaurants Uptown.
The bill to expand the Safety Committee duties and allow them to make these fliers passed unanimously.
This article's headline was changed to reflect ASG's support for changing the one-door policy, rather than passing a bill to change the policy themselves.
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