Housing
The residential life is a key component of the formation of the intellect, providing a critical component in the enlargement of the mind, the development of great natural virtues, and the capacity to serve as leaders in professional life, in the nation, and in the world (St. John Henry Newman, Idea of a University, Discourse 6). Education is not confined to the classroom, and requires that the pursuit of wisdom, truth, and virtue reflect a unity of life in order to be a liberal education, that is, an education that is oriented to the arts of freedom.
Full-time matriculating undergraduate students are required to live on campus, unless the student is exempted from the residency requirement pursuant to University policy. Students who are 21 years of age, married, a parent, a veteran, have senior status, or who live locally with the student’s parent(s) within 50 miles of campus are not required to live on campus. All students under 21 must verify their residency status with the Office of Student Affairs each semester. If the appropriate notification is not given in a timely fashion, the student may be charged standard housing fees for the semester regardless of actual status or housing contract. All hall residents are required to participate in one of the classification-based meal plans.
The University’s policies regarding residential life and the interaction of the two sexes are rooted in the following principles: (1) The University defines male and female as understood in Catholic teaching, Western humanistic tradition, and the truth of natural science, namely, a male is a person born as a biological male and a female is a person born as a biological female; and (2) Recognizing the differences between men and women, society typically provides men and women, especially in situations when men and women otherwise live in community, with spaces of privacy, set apart from members of the opposite sex.
The Office of Student Affairs designates residential areas, such as residential buildings, floors, halls, suites, and rooms, as single-sex. Except as otherwise permitted by University Policy, areas that have been designated as single-sex are limited to members of the designated sex and members of the opposite sex are prohibited from being present in those areas. The Office of Student Affairs typically designates certain times of the day and/or week when members of the opposite sex may be present in single-sex designated buildings, floors, halls, suites, or rooms. During these designated times of the day and/or week, when members of the opposite sex may be present in a suite or room, the doors to the suite or room must remain open while a member of the opposite sex is present.