From pumpkin carving to Christmas trees and spooky ghosts to wrapping paper, dorm halls have seen it all. Although festive, students must consider the rules and regulations Baldwin Wallace has in place or else their decorations will come down.
As the holiday season approaches many students decorate their doors to get in the spirit. However, sometimes after all of their hard work, the decorations must come down. This can be frustrating for students and can be avoided by knowing Baldwin Wallace safety and decoration regulations.
Fire safety is a main concern when it comes to door rules. Lauren Frank, lead resident assistant of Constitution and Heritage Hall, said: “Doors cannot be covered more than 75% for fire hazard reasons. Students cannot hang from smoke detectors and fire alarm stuff like that just for hazardous things, but otherwise go for it and have a blast.”
Frank said if there are a lot of paper or decorations on doors, fire can burn through it faster, therefore stopping the door from “doing what it’s supposed to do.”
“Every single door is at a fire grade. The doors are supposed to be able to keep either fire in or out of a room depending on where the fire is,” Frank said.
This regulation is listed in the student handbook on page 41, section B under “Fire Safety.” However, students can still hang decorations up next to or put things outside their door as well.
Xavier Walker, a resident assistant of Findley and North Hall, said: “You can hang things on the walls. A lot of RAs will do that and some people will decorate their halls like that, but not everyone.”
It is common to see people put paper decorations on the walls or candy outside their doors in a bowl during the holiday season.
According to the student handbook, section G of Fire Safety, decorations can be hung in public spaces but decorations hung from the ceiling or walls should be no lower than the top of the doors.
Pumpkin carving and Christmas trees are also a big part of holiday decorations. However, Baldwin Wallace has rules against having live trees, straw, hay, old pumpkins and other live plants/foliage.
Kristin Brewer, assistant director of residence life, said: “Some halls have holiday trees that they may choose to put up after Thanksgiving.”
In the past, residents have enjoyed helping decorate these trees, Brewer said. But although there are rules and regulations students and staff must follow in the dorm halls, there is room to bring the spirit of the season.
“Do whatever you want and have a blast as long as it’s not insensitive and doesn’t break code,” Frank said. “I think it’s a great way to make a hallway look really cute and you should totally go for it.”
