Opinion ID: 1261957
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Constitutionality of the Campus Residency Requirement

Text: The argument that the commuter student rule is unconstitutional need not long detain us. We start with the proposition that the college has the inherent right to promulgate and to enforce reasonable rules and regulations which impair a student's perfect freedom to do as he pleases. E.g., Esteban v. Central Missouri State College, 415 F2d 1077 (8th Cir. 1969), cert. den. 398 U. S. 965 (1970); Davis v. Southeastern Community College, 424 FSupp. 1341 (E.D.N.C. 1976); Smith v. Crim, 240 Ga. 390 (240 SE2d 884) (1977). As the Attorney General has noted in an excellent brief, numerous other jurisdictions have considered in depth and rejected the very arguments against dormitory residence requirements which these appellants raise. This residency requirement is not a violation of the constitutional rights to privacy and to free association (Prostrollo v. University of South Dakota, 507 F2d 775 (8th Cir. 1974), cert. den. 421 U. S. 952 (1975); Poynter v. Drevdahl, 359 FSupp. 1137 (W.D. Mich. 1972); Pratz v. Louisiana Polytechnic Institute, 316 FSupp. 872 (W.D. La. 1970), affd. 401 U. S. 1004 (1971), nor of the right to travel (Poynter v. Drevdahl, supra; Pratz v. Louisiana Polytechnic Institute, supra). See generally Note, Mandatory Housing Requirements: The Constitutionality of Parietal Rules, 60 Iowa L. Rev. 992 (1975); Annot., Validity, Under Federal Constitution, of Regulation or Policy of College or University Requiring Students to Live in Dormitories or Residence Halls, 31 ALR Fed. 813 (1977). Appellants contend that the foregoing decisions are inapposite because there was no military discipline present in the on-campus residency involved in those cases. We do not agree. The fact that for males there is an additional military training requirement which is triggered by college residency is a separate issue which we will consider next.