Tour groups inconvenience Defoe-Graham residents

Some students are asking for changes to the way tours are conducted.

By Luke Udstuen

Published Nov. 6, 2009

The influx of campus visitors brought on by Black and Gold Days and Meet Mizzou irks some residents of the Defoe-Graham residence hall.

"I can understand how they want to showcase the newer dorms because they're in better quality, and better condition," sophomore Defoe-Graham resident Liz Hartnett said. "But honestly, I was woken up by one today, and I didn't appreciate it at all."

Hartnett said though the problem has only been intolerable on Black and Gold Days, she has had many embarrassing incidents.

"There were times where I'll be in the bathroom showering, and there'll be a giant tour group in front of the bathroom that I have to walk through in a towel," Hartnett said. "It's awkward for both me and the tour groups. That's happened multiple times."

Both Hartnett and sophomore Defoe-Graham resident Peter Jones said they understood the importance of including residence halls in a tour of campus.

"I have no problem with the tour groups wanting to see our dorm," Jones said. "However, the way in which they're organized is fairly inconvenient."

The tour groups enter through the main entrance of Defoe-Graham, tour the lobby and see two designated showrooms. One room is suite style; the other is community living style, with separate bedrooms but shared living space and bathrooms.

Jones said the organization of the tour groups could be better.

"They tend to congregate in the lobby area," Jones said. "The tour guides move them in, and make them stop. So, it's a solid mass of people between the elevator and the door. So you can't get to your mailbox."

The central location and recent renovation contributed to selection of Defoe-Graham residence hall as the only hall showcased, MU tour guide Theo Keith said.

Residential Life Director Frankie Minor said, "We appreciate the residents' patience with us.”

Minor said Residential Life is overseeing the tours as a pilot program that will be evaluated at the end of the year for effectiveness. The program will also adapt as the year progresses, he said.

The community living and suite-style rooms are both located in Defoe-Graham residence hall this year, as opposed to last year when they were in two different buildings.

Minor said tour guides keep residents in mind when touring the residence hall.

"We're trying to do our best," Minor said. "We let the tour groups know that the building is not offline, we've only got one or two rooms that are offline to show them, and that these are real live residents, and to please be considerate."

Minor said the program is still new and needs to run for a year to observe results. He also mentioned the possibility of using Hawthorn residence hall for tours as well but didn't want tours to affect more residents than necessary.

"We recognize that there is a small level of inconvenience, and our commitment is to make that as small as possible for the residents," Minor said.

The next Meet Mizzou Day is set for Nov. 14.

Both Jones and Hartnett said smaller tour group sizes would be beneficial.

"Ultimately, tour groups are the only way to show people a dorm," Jones said. "They just need to learn to manage them better."

Jones acknowledged the legitimacy of the tour groups but did not hide his frustration.

"I shouldn't have to fight past 40 people on my way out the door, who are very poorly arranged," Jones said. "I think that if they're going to put them here, they need to get their shit together, for lack of a better term."