Hofstra indefinitely bans external guests in residence halls

The Office of Residence Life has changed its guest policies for the Fall 2021 semester. // Megan Naftali/The Hofstra Chronicle.

At the beginning of the Fall 2021 semester, Hofstra students were permitted to go into  residential dorms again. However, the current guest policy still prohibits external guests from visiting the residence halls, leaving students curious as to when the policy will change.

Prior to the pandemic, Hofstra Residence Life’s policy allowed residents to host other University students and external visitors in their dorms. The policy changed for the Fall 2020 semester, barring all guests from entering the dorms, according to Colin P. Sullivan, director of communications for Student Affairs. 

“[Students are permitted in each other’s dorms] because the University has worked exceedingly hard to make sure that everyone is vaccinated,” said Beth McGuire, senior assistant dean of students and the director of Residence Life.

Creating a system to allow external guests would be a long and difficult process, according to McGuire.

“There [have] been multiple discussions about putting a system in place,” McGuire said. She added that allowing external guests again would require new IT developments from the University, monitoring guest vaccination statuses and new Residence Life procedures. “There is a lot more than just deciding we’re going to have external guests,” she said.

Although many students are grateful that other students are permitted in their rooms again, some still want external guests to be permitted.

“It’s definitely an improvement from last year,” said Arianna Liebowitz, a junior geology major. “I understand why they don’t want [external guests] in our rooms, but if we’re all vaccinated and getting tested regularly – like they just [announced] surveillance testing and if the people they accept on campus get their vaccination status [checked] anyway – I would like them to open it back up to everyone.”

Surveillance testing may have an impact on whether external guests will be allowed in the future.

“We are starting our surveillance testing this week,” Sullivan said. “Now we’re getting into that business of standardized populations for each round and I imagine that that will greatly inform whatever the next iteration of ‘Together Again’ health and safety policies are.”

There have been instances in the past where students have snuck outside guests into their residence halls, according to McGuire.

“It hasn’t been a large issue,” McGuire said. She explained that sneak-ins do not occur frequently, but they still raise safety concerns. “One person who gets sneaked in ... that information spreads like wildfire throughout the residential community,” she said, adding that other residential students then feel angry because they aren’t allowed external guests in the building. 

There are consequences when a resident sneaks someone into the building, according to McGuire.

“They are going to go through a Community Standards process and their sanctions will depend upon whether they already have done something like this before or [if] they have a conduct record,” McGuire said.

The guest policy has been a source of frustration for some students who did not know these restrictions would be in place at the beginning of the Fall 2021 semester.

“I feel like we were all under the assumption that we would be able to have [external] visitors this semester because during orientation they told us that we would be able to, and they were using that as kind of a highlight of living on campus,” said Abigail Hart, a freshman bioengineering major. 

McGuire knows that the policy is disappointing to some but believes the policy ensures the health and safety of the students.

“I completely understand the frustration. I live on campus myself with my family. My staff all live on campus too and we are doing [our] best to make sure that students can enjoy a residential experience,” McGuire said.

Unlike residential students, some staff members who live on campus are able to bring external guests into their living spaces because they have separate doors leading to the outside, according to McGuire.

“Most of our apartments open up directly to the outside so we don’t have to walk through the building to get in them,” McGuire said. 

There is no current set date for when the guest policy will be updated to allow external guests again. Although many students understand the reasoning behind Hofstra’s current guest policy, some still find the restrictions frustrating.

“It makes sense that there are these policies to keep non-Hofstra students out,” said Elinoa Moerdler-Green, a sophomore art education major. “[That] doesn’t mean it doesn’t suck.”