Bona's looks back: rules and regulations

By Amanda Klein

Assistant Features Editor Imagine waking up every morning at 5:30, going to mass at 6, only having an hour of free time per day and then going to bed at 9 p.m. Communication with anyone outside the university is strictly prohibited, all your spending money must be deposited with the treasury department, and you can't leave campus without the president's permission. Glad it's only in your imagination? It wasn't for the first students on campus in the 1800s.

The first students could not go into others' rooms, and students in bed were not allowed to sit or lie on the blankets, according to "The First Bonaventure Men" by Walter Hammon. The university allowed noise only during an hour of free time.

Thankfully, students were not expected to follow these rules later in Bonaventure history.

Classroom Rules

In the 1960s, classes were held six days a week, with classes being dismissed at noon Saturdays, Peggy Burke, '69, dean of the school of education, said.

Students also had to dress up for class.

"Men had to wear jackets and ties to class," Burke said. "Some people weren't too fussy; other people would kick them out if they didn't have them on."

Professors allowed three absences per class before failing the course, and being kicked out for not having the proper attire counted as one, Burke said.

"As a result, some of the young men had some pretty strange outfits," Burke said. "They had shirts that didn't go with anything with horrible jackets and ties because they technically complied, but they certainly didn't look like fashion plates."

The men didn't look fashionable with their coat and ties, especially after four years.

"We all had one coat that we wore," Marv Stocker, '65, said. "By the time we graduated, everybody had patches in their sleeves, mustard stains and everything else on their coats."

Not only were students supposed to dress nicely for class, they had to polish their shoes for ROTC, which was mandatory for two years.

"There was a tremendous amount of discipline you learned in that because it was Drill and Ceremony," Robert Crowley, '71, said. "If your shoes weren't polished right, they were all over you."

Dating

Before women lived on campus, they lived at St. Elizabeth's Hall with the nuns. This made dating especially difficult.

"We were not allowed in St. Elizabeth's," Stocker said. "You were allowed to walk a girl to the lobby door. Sometimes they wouldn't even let you in the door. It's like a Gestapo."

Even as women moved onto campus, the two sexes were rarely mixed.

"There was no fraternization in rooms," Crowley said. "Males could not be in women's dorms when I was there. You could go in the lobby."

Finally, men and women could visit each other's dorms, but only for a designated time.

"My freshman year, we couldn't have guys on our floor, then they started visitation," Nancy Mayer, '77, said. "They had a desk, and the guys would have to leave their IDs and would have to sign in. It was only to a certain time, and they had to be out. And the RA would say 'all right, all the guys out!' They knew what room you were in, and they had your ID, so you couldn't get away with staying there."

Alcohol Policy

If a Bonaventure student in the 1800s entered a facility where alcohol was served, they were immediately expelled, according to "The First Bonaventure Men.". Since then, the alcohol policy has lightened up a bit.

"It used to be in New York State that the drinking age was 18, which meant that almost anyone on campus could go to The Rathskeller," Crowley said. "It was very popular then. I don't think we could have alcohol in the rooms."

Students did not have alcohol in the rooms because of policy and fear.

"We never had it in our rooms because we were too afraid of being kicked out," Stocker said.

Before The Rathskeller opened in 1967, students had to find other places to drink.

"We weren't supposed to drink, but we all did," Stocker said. "We didn't have The Rathskeller, but the drinking age was 18. We all had our own Rathskeller, spelled B-U-R-T-O-N."

On campus, though, drinking sometimes became problematic.

"We had a dean of discipline. It was always a priest, and Father Ambrose was an ex-Marine," Stocker said. "That's why we were all careful. My roommate . he was 130 pounds, first night gets smashed . throws up in the room. We clean it up, and Father used to come around and bed check. We put him in bed and stood around him so Father couldn't see him. And he asked 'Where's Brian?' 'Oh, Father, he's sick.' I think he knew. But, we lived in fear of being caught drunk because you could be expelled."

Even though students could rarely access alcohol on campus at that time, others on campus could.

"Where the beer truck did go on campus was the friary," Stocker said. "We had like 80 friars living here, so we would see the Budweiser truck backed up to the friary. They had a lot of events and activities."

Students were also allowed to have on-campus socials or events that served alcohol.

"One of the first events I attended on campus had kegs of beer," Stocker said.

The alcohol policy has undergone many changes since the drinking age was raised to 21, which Burke said might have led to the current abuse of alcohol.

"Because it's a forbidden activity, it looks a little more glamorous," Burke said. "It was kind of a normal thing for us."

Faith Regulations

In the 1800s, Bonaventure made every student attend mass every morning at 6 and visit the Blessed Sacrament after lunch and dinner. Now, the rules regarding faith are less unyielding.