The Inter-Residence Hall Association passed a bill at its Thursday night meeting asking the Department of Residence to remove a policy from its room and board contract requiring residents to leave the dorms 24 hours after their last spring final.

IRHA unanimously passed the 24-hours bill, which originally included recommendations to the Department of Residence concerning how to make future changes to the residence halls’ Terms and Conditions.

However, several amendments were made to the bill so that it dealt only with the 24-hour policy.

Erin Link, Union Drive Association president, said the IRHA Internal Affairs Committee decided the bill would be more effective if the two issues were separated.

“We would like this to be two bills to let the Department of Residence know we’re severely upset about the 24-hour policy,” she said.

Bill Wychulis, Towers Residence Association at-large, will draft for the next meeting a separate bill addressing the way in which the Department of Residence makes changes to the Terms and Conditions.

Virginia Arthur, associate director of residence, attended the meeting to discuss the policy.

Arthur said the original intent of the 24-hour policy was to give the Department of Residence the authority to ask students who are disruptive to others after their tests are done to leave.

However, at the time the Terms and Conditions were revised last year, the Department of Residence was advised by legal counsel that it would be unable to enforce a policy based on students being disruptive.

Arthur said she talked to university officials last week and learned that now such a policy is possible.

“We can go with what we wanted to do the first time around,” she said. “If your behavior is not conducive to academic success, we can have the hall director ask you to leave.”

IRHA parliament agreed this policy was considerably more fair than the 24-hour policy. Arthur said the Department of Residence still is working out the details as to how disruptive students will be asked to leave the halls.

In other legislation, strong emotions flared in the debate over a funding bill for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Ally Alliance and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Support Services Speakers Bureau.

The Speakers Bureau asked IRHA for $400 to conduct one program in each residence hall association. The presentations would be designed to raise awareness of LGBT issues in the residence halls.

The bill was up for its first read, but parliament waived the first read so they could debate the bill.

Jeremy Hayes, director of information technology for LGBTAA, said LGBTAA officials decided to come to IRHA first for funding.

“This was not something we planned for,” he said. “We’re looking for other sources to help finish funding it. This was something we thought IRHA would be interested in because it benefits residence hall students.”

Discussion on the bill became emotional when Wychulis moved to remove a phrase of the bill stating the presentations would “reduce homophobia in the residence halls.” Wychulis said this implied the atmosphere in the dorms is homophobic.

“I don’t think it’s appropriate in a bill,” he said.

Supporters of the bill disagreed, arguing homophobia does occur on a regular basis in the residence hall system.

“Homophobia is a social disease, the same as any other kind of prejudice,” Hayes said. “This is a very personal issue to me because I experience homophobia in my residence hall every day.”

The parliament eventually voted to remove the phrase, replacing it with the phrase “alleviating common misconceptions and biases.”

IRHA voted to postpone voting on the bill until next week. Several members requested that LGBTAA also ask the programming boards of the separate residence hall associations for funding.