After the headline “GlobeMed solicitation violated University rules” appeared on the front page of The Daily on Wednesday, online commenters were quick to point out that GlobeMed is far from the first group on campus to promote its programming door-to-door, and that in this case, it was at least for a noble purpose.
The Daily acknowledges that this is not the first time (nor is it likely to be the last) that students will knock on a few random doors to promote a cause, inside or outside of school and student group rules. Anyone who has lived in on-campus housing has had their share of surprise guests come to the door, from ASG candidates to religious groups to Dance Marathon dancers. As the rules currently stand, students are not prevented from knocking on doors asking for a moment of a dorm resident’s time or seeking a conversation, but material solicitation – including selling things or asking for any kind of donation is not allowed. The lines in the student handbook currently read, “at no time and under no circumstances will door-to-door solicitation be permitted within the residence halls.” The Daily understands this policy but encourages the university to reconsider the ban on door-to-door solicitation.
Though GlobeMed’s strategy might have broken a rule, it was for a good cause and according to the group members interviewed for Wednesday’s article, most of the students they spoke to did not seem annoyed or pressured by their door-to-door request. Additionally, it is understandable why group members felt the need to do something more proactive than placing boxes for donations in dormitory lobbies. When it comes down to it, we’re all a bit distracted and just because you see a donation box and happen to have some old clothes in your room does not mean you will remember to bring them downstairs the next time you are rushing to class. It’s a lot easier when the box comes to you, making it also much more effective for the group doing the soliciting.
For this reason, The Daily believes that groups should be able to obtain permits to solicit door-to-door in dormitories for appropriate reasons. The administration said that the intention of the rule as it stands is to prevent students from feeling pressured or intimidated to donate. While this is a valid concern, we do not think that soliciting donations makes most students any more uncomfortable groups or campaigns coming to their door seeking conversations or verbally promoting various causes. However, if students were given a carte blanche on door-to-door solicitation, it could easily get out of hand. Neither dorm residents nor soliciting groups would benefit from this privilege being established but then overused, which is why a permit process would be beneficial. Permits could be issued on a dormitory by dormitory basis, by some combination of Residential Housing Association, Residential College Board and the head community assistant in a residence hall, based on both the nature of what is being solicited and how recently other groups have been permitted to go door-to-door in a residence. This sort of process would allow groups to collect the donations they need for a project while also ensuring that residents aren’t overloaded with requests for material support. Additionally, if the process is clearly regulated, it can be more fairly enforced if such a situation should ever arise.
GlobeMed made news this week for more than their successful rummage sale, even though their solicitation method is nothing new, because it is in fact against school rules and made some students uncomfortable. However, we do not believe that what they were attempting to do is unreasonable and we additionally feel that other groups would benefit from being allowed to conduct similar kinds of donation drives in the future, as long as there are measures to ensure that the process doesn’t get out of hand.
