Stockard residents regained visitation rights last week after two weeks of suspension due to several incidents in September involving vandalism and misconduct, according to Ole Miss Student Housing.
Students living in Stockard Hall, the second largest male residence hall on campus, received an email last week informing residents that guests would be welcomed again. The email was composed by Danielle Sims, area coordinator for Martin, Stockard, Crosby and Stewart Halls.
Sims mentioned in the email new plans for the residential halls.
“At this time, the decision has been made to lift the visitation ban effective 10/1/2014 at 6:00 p.m. I hope that this will be a fun weekend with families and friends,” Sims’ email read.
However, the first email sent out to residents establishing the visitation suspension was not as spirited.
“I am writing this email to inform all Stockard Hall residents that visitation will be suspended for all members of the community indefinitely starting this Sunday, September 14, 2014 at 11:59 p.m. This includes overnight visitation and also extends to family,” Sims wrote.
The email explained visitation was lost due to failure to hold integrity within resident actions and acts of vandalism.
The Department of Student Housing would not release any specific information regarding the vandalism. Jennifer McClure, assistant director of marketing at student housing, said revealing specifics about the investigation would be a violation to student confidentiality.
Students like Andrew Spragins, a Stockard resident, have spoken out about the incidents, however.
“The speculation is that people were discharging fire extinguishers in the halls and ripping water fountains off the wall,” Spragins said.
Spragins also revealed that the fire alarm had been pulled several times as a prank and the elevators had been trashed with cups and bottles every day of the week. When the fire department has to respond to an alarm at one of the residential halls, the university is fined whether there is fire or not, according to student housing.
McClure understands the dynamic of the community living at the conjoined residential halls of Martin and Stockard, because she also lived there.
McClure certainly hopes the two-week visitation suspension proved effective.
“This situation always shows to be difficult because we are not in a disciplinary relationship with the residents as they were with their parents,” McClure said. “Our only option to explain what we expect is to enforce the punishment that encourages accountability among the community.
“When you’re dealing with an entire community, the decision to punish all the residents for the actions of a few is always a tough one.”
However, due to overall good behavior by the Stockard community, visiting privileges were reinstated in time for the weekend of the Ole Miss vs. Alabama football game.
The process when handling incidents of this nature involves gathering information from surveillance footage in the residential hall and interviewing residents, according to McClure.
“I think they reached a period where they gathered all of their information and everyone was ready to move on,” said McClure.
Many raised questions about the inclusion of family members in the visitation suspension.
“Our policy is anyone who is not a resident is a visitor whether that be your mom or a friend,” McClure said. “Looking at it from a security view, it is the best approach. The nuclear family isn’t the majority anymore; everyone seems to be a blended family of some type.”
Jason Erwin, another Stockard resident, was caught off guard when he learned parents were not allowed to visit with the revocation.
“My dad came into town last week, and he couldn’t come up to my room,” Erwin said. “It was really inconvenient that even family members weren’t allowed to visit.”
