 "Photo: N/A")
Students at West Virginia University gathered in residence hall common areas Wednesday night to protest against the University's overnight visitation policy.
Sponsored by the Residence Hall Association, the sit-in aimed to point out the safety and social inequalities of the current policy. Adults should be allowed the responsibility of having guests of any gender overnight with the roommate's consent, according to fliers distributed.
A petition was also available at the residence halls, which collected more than 500 signatures, said Student Government Association Gov. Ryan Campione.
"Our main objective was to bring awareness to the issue, and we've definitely done this by the amount of press and students talking about it," he said.
Most dorms had a turnout of about five to 10 students, but Honors Hall had nearly 30 students gathered in the lobby.
Some students took the opportunity to work on homework while others socialized or played handheld video games.
Stacy Tritt, a freshman pre-secondary education and English major, said she joined the sit-in because she knows people who want to have overnight guests of the opposite gender including family members.
"One time a friend of mine from back home came to Morgantown for an event," Tritt said. "He ended up having to drive home in the middle of the night. That's not a safe situation."
Tritt said with a relaxed overnight visitation policy, her friend could have easily stayed with her in Summit Hall.
Ben Seebaugh, a freshman political science major who attended the Honors sit-in, agreed with Tritt. He said he was protesting because the policy was outdated.
SGA President Chris Lewallen, who attended the Evansdale Residential Complex sit-in, said he is glad students are taking a stand after years of hating the policy.
The simple act of students leaving the comfort of their dorm rooms showed the University they are serious about change, said Justin "Tex" Griffiths, president of RHA.
"There's been a nice stir within the University," Griffiths said. "Coming to a sit-in shows students are willing to do something out of the ordinary, because a lot of them aren't willing to do something like that."
In 2008, a survey was conducted of students on their opinion of the current policy. Nearly 95 percent of students said they would support a changed policy, said Kacie Kidd, the downtown president of the Residential Assistant Council.
"Students are aware of there being a policy that they don't live by very often," Kidd said. "Students want to see the change, and they have spoken very adequately about it."
Campione said he will continue working on changing the visitation policy and plans to present the petition to the University.
He said in the future he would like to see a plan in place because currently the University is still in evaluation stages.
is a member of the 
9 comments
The visitation policy is easy enough to get around though, just have someone come in before 9, or have someone of their gender sign them in.
I really wish they would change some of the rules of the meal plan, like having the cafeteria open later. It closes at 8:30, but the people working there start packing up at 7:30..... or maybe make the washers and dryers a reasonable price... or how about showers that I don't have to crouch on the floor to wash my hair in?? (Towers kids know what I'm talking about),.. maybe better building maintenance. My room is so cold from the draft of the window. Even when the window is shut, you can still feel a breeze.These are things that matter most to me.