Four new policies went into effect for the War Memorial Student Union on March 12 that affected student and Greek organizations. These new policies were written and approved under Dr. Marvin Yates, vice president for Student Affairs, and Jonathan Ambrose, director of the student union. Two of the new additions are located under the general policies, included eliminating the use of explicit language in music played in the union and the reservation and use of the Student Union stage.  The other two additions were made under mall policies, prohibiting overnight events such as camp outs and the use of upholstered furniture within the Student Union.
“I actually had people call wanting to know if they had done anything wrong. It is not that someone did anything,” said Jonathan Ambrose, director of the Student Union. “Some of this stuff I have been looking at for almost two years now, and some of it has been from last semester to this semester. They are all small instances that no one will know about except the organization and me.”
The first policy states that any of the music played within the confines of the Student Union or any surrounding space must be monitored for profane and lewd lyrics, in respect to visitors and keeping a clean image for the campus.
“The Union is a high traffic area for students, visitors and tour groups which are the biggest thing. There is always mom and dad along with little brother and sister because they think it is really cool, and we want to make sure we are portraying the right image. We are not enforcing what music they play. We just ask they use the clean and edited versions,” said Ambrose. “It is based on a trust system, as long as it is clean we do not care what you play.”
The second states that the movable stage that is offered through the Student Union office for student use may now only be rented and used for events taking place within the confines of the Union to preserve it.
“We have one of the only movable stages on campus that can actually be transported, and each piece is about five thousand dollars. We no longer have the funds to replace it, and moving it from here to there is starting to take a toll on it,” said Ambrose. “We just want to make sure it stays safe as possible within the Union so it can be available for you as students.”
The third states that for the image quality of the Student Union, all uses of upholstered furniture such as couches, love seats and chairs, are prohibited by all organizations.
“We have student groups who like to bring their couches here. A lot of times it is not the most aesthetically looking piece of furniture. We want to make sure that if you are hosting an event, such as a fundraiser, that you are fundraising,” said Ambrose. “We do not want it to be a gathering place where you come out and play video games and lay around. Sometimes it portrays the wrong message for your organization, and it goes back to our whole image deal.”
For safety concerns, all campouts and overnight events are strictly prohibited. Events will now only be allowed during the hours of 7:30 a.m. through 10 p.m.
“One of the main things that drove the portion of this was safety for me, particularly the camping out,” said Ambrose. “The Student Union is only open till 10 at night, and when I mean open, I mean as in the buildings being open and staff is present. After that campus police are on campus, but you can’t expect them to be everywhere at any given time, and I was just really worried about the safety of the students sleeping in the Union for the camping out part of it. It has always been a concern.  Students have done it for a while. They like to fundraise, but to me safety is a huge factor, and I always want to make sure that the campus and Union is a safe place for students, and I can’t guarantee that once our staff leaves.”
Many students use campouts as a way of fundraising including Jeremy Stoufflet, a junior computer science major and member of Delta Tau Delta.
“I understand, but it’s still kind of unfortunate that we can’t stay out here,” said Stoufflet. “I remember that we had a lot of fun out here in the previous years when we had this community service event, staying out here with our friends and having a good time.”
Ambrose elaborated that his concerns were for the safety of Southeastern students.
“I try to be more proactive, and try to foresee things before they happen,” said Ambrose.