Any time that a majority student group on campus cries out that it is being oppressed, it makes me want to barf. The precise reason for regulations that prohibit the meeting of any registered student group in an RA's room is to protect residents who may feel that a person in a position of power over them could be pushing a certain ideological belief. This policy applies to religious organizations sponsoring Bible studies or to meetings of the Diary Club.
The fact of the matter is that a residence hall is someone's home. Each individual has a right to feel safe, secure and comfortable inside his/her own home. Majority students (Christians) on this campus have ample opportunity to express and exercise their faith. St. Paul's Catholic Center has four masses on Sundays to accommodate students' schedules. UW Housing also makes space for them to have services on certain holy days in residence-hall facilities. All of these opportunities are there to make Christians feel comfortable. The cry that Christians all over Wisconsin are being oppressed because they must walk out of the building to exercise their religious practices is ridiculous.
Non-majority students are not as likely to meet people that they identify with, make friends and create social networks. They are far less likely to feel as though they are able to freely express their religious practices and often times find it very difficult to live in a place where they feel no one understands their culture. It is said that if a student can make one meaningful relationship within the first 12 weeks of his/her time on campus, it will increase the likelihood of him/her having a successful college experience immeasurably. The principle people to help in achieving this goal are the RAs. They are charged with connecting residents not only to resources but also to each other. They must be approachable and seem open at all times. They are under a contractual and moral obligation to do so, and if by leading a Bible study this goal is not achievable, an RA should not be allowed to have one.
Richard Greenlee is a senior at the University of Wisconsin.
