24 hour quiet time enforced in residence halls

Pearce Ford Tower PFT is a 27 story, female residence hall located on the south end of campus. This landmark hall was built in 1970 and is has TV lounges, ping pong tables, pool tables, and Foosball. Harrison Hill/HERALD

Jessica Kiehnau

Finals week begins on Dec. 4, but students have already begun hitting the books. Dec. 1 at 8:00 p.m. marks the beginning of the 24 hour quiet hour in residence halls on campus.

While many of students like to hit popular study spots, such as the DSU study room, HCIC study rooms and the various campus libraries, they do tend to become cramped. More often than not, students can find themselves without a table, a private study room or they are too distracted by their surroundings. 

Rooms in residence halls make a great place for some quiet and private study time, however, even these places can get distracting. Blasting music and hangouts in the halls can make even the most sacred of spaces a nightmare to work in. This is where the 24 hour quiet hours take into effect.

According to WKU’s Residence Hall Handbook, normal quiet hours during the semester are from 10:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. Sunday through Thursday, and midnight to 8:00 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

The handbook states: “Quiet hours mean that there should be no noise heard outside your room with the door closed.” 

Some students agree that the 24 hour quiet hour rule that is placed in residence halls are helpful for those who are trying to study.

“Hopefully, I feel like it should help,” freshmen Pearce Ford Tower resident, Nichole Walker from Union, Kentucky, said. “Personally, my floor is loud and it can be hard to focus with all the noise.”

“The 24 hour quiet hours are a great idea for people like me who like to study in their dorms. They may be an inconvenience for some, but I believe the benefits outweigh the costs,” freshmen Minton resident, Rebecca Price from Shepherdsville, Kentucky, said.

Some students who have survived previous finals week quiet hours rave about the benefits.

“The quiet hours definitely worked! It helped me concentrate on what I needed to do,” sophomore Hugh Poland resident, Jerelle Webster from Elizabethtown said.

While most students do generally follow their hall’s new rule, sometimes they can forget about the restriction. The residence assistants of the residence halls are responsible for making sure their floors remain quiet so they and their residents have the perfect atmosphere to study in.

“If I get a disturbance, I’ll just let them know. I’ll tell them, ‘You should be studying’,” freshmen RA of Northeast Hall, Whitney King of Memphis, said.

While this rule may be annoying to some, some have agreed it can be helpful to students studying for final exams. The quiet hours run all through the weekend into finals week. After finals, students will be packing up their stuff and heading home for winter break.

Reporter Jessica Kiehnau can be reached by her Twitter @JessKeyno