Main Hall. Photo by Zoe Hall. As Housing and Residence Life has monitored COVID-19 cases, they have decided to update the visitation policy to allow residents to visit residents of different halls.
The University of Montevallo has stated that many of the current positive COVID-19 cases have occurred off-campus, so non-residents will still not be allowed to visit resident halls at this time. With this change, many students at Montevallo have concerns and statements about the policy.
With the change not allowing non-residents to enter residence hall, many commuters from Montevallo are upset with this policy.
Madi Kirkland, a junior communications major, believes that visitation should be open to all Montevallo students.
Kirkland specifically said, “There are members of sororities who would benefit greatly from being allowed onto their hall, and some of them even have positions that require them to have hall access.”
Another student, Tyler Gogan, a freshman biology major, shared similar thoughts regarding the change. Gogan said, “I wish commuters were allowed in as long as they were full-time students.”
On the other hand, residents residing in halls were pleased with the visitation policy change.
Elizabeth Montalbano, a freshman history major, was very happy with the new policy change.
Montalbano said, “It makes it hard to connect with your friends when you can’t do anything together without spending money and leaving campus so the policy change will be better for our mental health.”
Not all residents agreed with the change, and some like freshman theatre major, Nick Johnson shared his concerns with the change.
Johnson said, “I think the change wasn’t really the best idea since we are still in the middle of a pandemic and it’s expected to be worse.”
Johnson also explained his worry of people not wearing masks and maintaining social distance.
With this policy change, many students of Montevallo have mixed feelings and opinions.
This new visitation policy was initiated on Nov. 29 at 2 p.m.
Visitation will also remain limited to four people per room and roommates must agree to allow outside guests.
Aubrie Chastain is a writer for The Alabamian. She is a first-year political science major with plans to attend law school. She enjoys a good book, coffee and hikes.
