Unofficial housing policy is dangerous

They are coming.

From all over Illinois, the Midwest and both coasts, alumni and friends of current students will descend on campus to celebrate Unofficial St. Patrick's Day. The event is the brainchild of local bar owner Scott Cochrane and has grown to be a big nuisance for the City of Champaign and the administration. But one new policy designed to reign it in will do more harm than good.

This weekend, all University residence halls have banned visitors. According to University housing, anyone who cannot produce an iCard will be asked to leave.

Not only does this policy completely infringe on the rights of students who will not be celebrating Unofficial this weekend (and yes, they do exist, despite fear-mongering by the administration in the form of letters to parents), it will not produce a safer environment on campus.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with having an increased police presence across campus and heightened patrols by resident advisors and housing staff. But if this University is concerned about student safety during the "holiday," it would not restrict the number of people who could potentially be helped by these trained professionals.

Frankly, the administration has angered students by announcing the policy a mere week before the event. With thousands of students already having plans, it's likely that many of them will not change them out of spite. Visitors to campus for Unofficial that would have stayed with friends in supervised environments like the residence halls will no doubt move to apartments where there will be fewer sober people to take care of them if necessary.

Conversely, University residents who were going to host friends may just opt to spend the event in apartments too.

Since these residents tend to be freshmen and sophomores, they probably have less experience, poorer judgement and a greater need for a responsible figure to help them.

It's unfortunate that the University is fanning the flames of rebellion that Cochrane and other local bar owners know makes the event so popular in the first place. Deciding to make a big push on one weekend while maintaining a markedly less engaged approach the rest of the year sends a mixed message, one that will likely never be mailed to parents.

The University does not have to endorse Unofficial, but it must do the right thing when it comes to keeping as many people safe as possible. Measures designed for good PR as much as they are for safety will not accomplish this goal and could very realistically make everyone worse off.