Alcohol Policy
Refer to the general University Policies and Procedures section of this handbook for a complete explanation of the Alcohol Policy, in relation to the overall Student Code.
Common Areas, Responsibility for
It is essential that all persons within the community – students, faculty, staff and even alumni – recognize the joint responsibility for the common good that exists at Gonzaga. The significance of a community, in part, is that individuals take an active role in the care of others. Common areas are lounges, lobbies, kitchen areas, recreation rooms, laundry rooms, and bathrooms. If you notice damage or carelessness within your hall of anywhere on campus, we ask that you bring it to the attention of your Residence Director or the Housing Office so that action may be taken. The University will charge the cost of repairing common area damage, vandalism, theft of property equally to the residents responsible for the area concerned. We therefore encourage each resident to consider him/herself equally responsible for building common areas, and to intervene directly in behavior which poses a threat to the physical facilities and property.
Games that involve running, propelling or throwing objects back and forth in common areas of the indoor part of residence halls are not allowed. There are people moving around in residential facilities who can be hurt by flying objects and there is expensive equipment such as glass windows and fire detection and suppression equipment that can be damaged by such activity. Please take such activity outside.
Courtesy and Quiet Hours
The primary objective of the University is to facilitate the academic enterprise. The nature of this enterprise involves learning and study which may take place in many forms and at many times of the day and night. In addition, the University recognizes that its location, within a residential neighborhood, demands respect for the permanent residents of Spokane.
Therefore, a 24-hour Courtesy policy is in effect for all University Residences. Noise of all types is to be kept to a moderate level, and all students are required to immediately cease and desist from the generation or production of noise when requested to do so by any other individual, at any time of the day or night. All students are advised that within all Gonzaga-owned residential property and on the grounds of the University, a Quiet Hours Policy is in effect as follows:
- Seven days a week: 11:00 pm to 9:00 am the following morning.
- Last Two Weeks of Each Semester: 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
During quiet hours, it is expected that:
- Noise be confined to the individual living units (rooms in residence halls, apartment units in apartment facilities).
- Doors be closed if television or music is being played inside.
- The noise in a room should not disturb neighbors sharing common walls.
- Noise external to residential areas be kept at a low enough level that it will not disturb others
Preventing disturbances is the most assured way of creating the environment on campus and in the residence facilities that is conducive to our academic enterprise and thus in keeping with our most central mission as an institution. Therefore, Residence Life and Security staff are empowered to make judgment calls regarding noise levels prior to receiving complaints.
The last two weeks of each academic term are important times for GU students. These two weeks are the culmination of an entire semester’s hard academic work. We ask and expect all students to take this time seriously and focus on academics. We expect quiet in our facilities out of deference to fellow students. Our residence hall staff will be empowered during this time to use judgment regarding disruptive behavior. We may elect to respond to such disruptions in any of the following ways:
- Use the normal judicial route to adjudicate the issue and resolve the behavior
- Ask the student to move out within a couple of hours and spend the rest of the semester in a hotel
- Place a judicial hold on the student’s registration and defer resolution until September
- Any combination of the above.
Privacy, Courtesy, and Visitation Policy
The right of a student to live in reasonable privacy takes precedence over the right of his/her roommate to entertain a guest in the room, regardless of gender, at any time of the day or night.
It is presumed that student conduct in the residence halls will be consistent with the Catholic, Jesuit ideals and objectives of the University. In addition, the University will manage its residential facilities in ways that provide support for academic excellence and proper and restful sleep. In order to foster such an atmosphere of study and to provide a measure of privacy, visitation (having a visitor or guest of the opposite sex in your room) is limited. Not to be confused with announced and authorized overnight visitors (see below). Parameters for visitation (hours when men and women can be in each other’s rooms) are:
Seven days a week: 9:00 am - 2:00 am.
Outside of this time period, we ask all residents to take their conversations, study groups, etc to a public area of their building. It is expected that only residents of the living unit will be on the living unit after hours and any quiet conversation, music or television on the living unit will be occurring behind closed bedroom doors in keeping with the Quiet Hours Policy.
Visitors:
Guest Policy
Anyone visiting a student in their room, apartment, suite, or hall is considered a "guest" of that student. Guests can be any of the following, but not limited to the following:
- Other residence hall students
- Off campus friends and acquaintances not associated with Gonzaga University
- Off campus GU students visiting residence halls
- Family members
As a host, you are responsible for your guest’s compliance with the University Code of Conduct, whether or not you are present in any situation where concern arises. This includes individual bedrooms, suites, and apartments. Additionally, students who have been found to frequent living areas unbeknownst to the resident(s) on record will be presumed to be "guests" of the resident(s), unless it is evident that there was "forced entry."
Overnight guests in any of the residence halls must be announced in advance with the Residence Director of the building. Guests must be the same gender as their host. Residence Directors may approve or disapprove of any/all such requests. Overnight visitors are limited to two days (48 hours), per semester. As with the visitation policy, your roommate’s or apartment mate’s needs for privacy supersede your right to have an overnight guest.
Escort Policy
Visitors to any residence hall must be escorted by a current resident of that hall while they are visiting, whether inside the room or outside of it. Visitors who are found to be without an escort will be required immediately to leave the building.
Cohabitation Policy
The University provides and maintains its residences specifically for the use of legitimate, rent-paying students (and their spouses and dependents, where applicable). Only students registered with the Office of Housing and Residence Life as actual residents of a space may live in that space. In order to insure the privacy and welfare of both the students and the community, please note the following examples of cohabitation violations:
- Friends who are residents but want to swap rooms without permission from the Housing Office
- Non-students (including relatives) and students who have not made arrangements for housing through the Office of Housing and Residence Life may not reside within any University residence
- Friends or relatives who stay overnight without being announced to and approved by the Residence Director before visiting
- Off campus Gonzaga students who need a place to stay for a few days or weeks
- A "significant other" who spends the night or multiple nights
Courtesy Phones
Each residence hall is equipped with an outside courtesy phone. Guests of students should call their residence hall host in order to gain access to a residence hall. Please do not prop open building access doors in anticipation of a visit from a friend. Instruct your guest to call you at the door when she/he arrives to be let in.