Few students living on campus can remember the days when hanging signs and posters on residence hall doors was permitted.

However, there was a time when Iowa State students living in the residence halls were allowed to hang posters, bulletin boards and other decorations on their doors. After an incident in 1992 when a student posted Nazi symbols on his door, the university banned all door decorations.

Travis Franck, a freshman living in Anders House of Barton Hall, has scheduled a meeting with Randy Alexander, the new residence hall director, to discuss the door policy and other residence hall concerns this Thursday, Oct. 3, in the Larch conference room in the Maple-Willow-Larch commons at 7 p.m.

Franck initially scheduled the meeting because members of his house were concerned with the current door policy. There have been on-again, off-again campaigns to change the policy for several years.

“I got involved in changing the door policy because I heard complaints from others in the house and when questions of why we couldn’t put things up were asked, no one ever presented me any legitimate reason. I also questioned its constitutionality,” Franck said.

The issue of changing the current door policy was first raised again this fall in the Anders House when freshman Jean Fitzpatrick decorated her door with various comics and her name. The resident assistant of Anders, Anthony Usera, told her she had to remove them.

“Anthony told me that nothing was allowed on doors because they’d had problems with racist material,” Fitzpatrick said. “It was like a kick in the gut because I expected to be able to express myself.”

They reached a compromise by allowing Fitzpatrick to decorate the small glass display case on her floor.

“I can’t change it [the case decorations] as often as I would like, though,” Fitzpatrick said.

She would like to see the door policy changed “so that people are allowed to put up what they want with the provision that if problems arise the RA should decide.”

Sophomore Sarah Williams, also a member of the house, said she dislikes the policy but can understand why it was needed.

“You can’t legislate what’s right and what’s wrong,” Williams said. “It had to be all or nothing.”

Franck said everyone is invited to attend the meeting and bring suggestions on how to improve residence hall life.