Making sense of housing policies
- posted: 26 June 2007
- scrollnews@byui.edu
Some students may think they know why BYU-Idaho has approved housing, but their rationale may not be completely correct.
Students offer different explanations to rationalize why BYU-I has approved housing. Nicole Lash, a senior from Red Wing, Minn., said it has to do with the Honor Code and “it helps [students] to live the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
Some students don’t think it has to do with the Honor Code or living gospel standards.
“I heard it was to protect students, [so that students] live in high-quality housing,” said Gregory Child, a junior from Snohomish, Wash.
However, the university has approved housing to meet the mission of BYU-I.
There are rules that govern the Fair Housing Law to protect individuals from discrimination. “The Fair Housing Act protects all citizens from discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, handicap or familial status,” according to www.hud.gov.
Gender discrimination is one of those protections, but the Justice Department provides an educational exemption, under Title IX, which allows universities to separate by gender.
“We exercise our right with title IX to separate by gender. Because it’s an educational exemption, you must be a student to live in approved housing,” said BYU-I Housing Director Sharon Tuckett.
On occasion, BYU-I housing sends out an eviction notice to individuals living in university-approved housing when it becomes necessary.
More than one reason may qualify a person to receive such a notice. Sometimes there is just missing data on a person and it simply needs to be cleared up to prove he or she is a BYU-I student; other times, a resident may not be a student and therefore, may not live in university housing, Tuckett said.
Two letters of warning are issued before an actual eviction letter is sent. “We are really interested to correct an error,” Tuckett said.
If an eviction letter is sent, the recipient has only 72 hours to move out or prove that he or she is a BYU-I student.
There may be some confusion as to who qualifies as a student. According to www.rexburghousing.com, “Continuing Education students do not qualify to live in approved housing.”
Taking night classes or extra classes to continue students’ education does not necessarily mean they have been assigned a track, like traditional students, and therefore are not eligible to live in approved housing according to www.byui.edu."Because it’s an educational exemption, you must be a student to live in approved housing,”
“You must be admitted to a track. That’s a key point,” Tuckett said.
Michelle Franklin, from Gilbert, Ariz., is a Continuing Education student attending night classes. She read the contract that reminded her she had to be a student in order to live in approved housing. When she signed her contract to live at Legacy Ridge, she thought she qualified as a student. After receiving an eviction letter, she learned otherwise.
“Because I’m not accepted through a track, [I] am not allowed to live in student housing,” Franklin said.
After learning she wasn’t counted as a student, Franklin had to move out and find a different place to live. “The thing that bothered me is that the apartment shouldn’t accept [a resident] until they know they’re a student,” Franklin said.
To clear up this kind of confusion, the Housing Office came up with a new computer program, which they now are using, that alerts managers if students are not a student by using an e-mail address, said Tuckett. 
