On Nov. 16, shower doors were installed around various bathrooms in Main House. Previously, the majority of bathrooms in the unrenovated sections of the dormitory had only had curtains as a protection for privacy in their showers. This presented a particular issue in the case of the so-called “lovers’ showers.”
The Main House Events Officer (HEO), Claire Gallion ’26, explained this phenomenon, stating, “There’s these ‘lovers’ showers’ that have a changing stall in the middle and they face each other with only a curtain separating them. In general, the shower privacy situation was pretty bad.”
Many students across the house expressed discomfort and stress surrounding this showering arrangement. “Last year, I felt like I didn’t have any privacy. It just sucked, because someone walked in on me my freshman year and it was scary,” said Yewon Kang ’26, who lived on the fourth floor of Main both this year and last year. “Every time I showered, I’d have to be on guard. If I heard someone walking towards me, I would have to hold the curtains.” She further explained how the formation of two showers facing one another further exacerbated these stressors, saying, “Before this year, when [Main House Team] made a statement saying that you’re not allowed to shower when someone else is in the cross-shower…you didn’t know when the other person was going to come out of the shower, so it was like a race against time where you either had to sprint or wait until they got out.”
Main House resident Iris Li ’26 echoed the inconveniences that came from the lack of shower stall doors, which often made other problems within the bathrooms worse. She stated, “One of our shower curtains was basically broken, but that was the shower with better water pressure, so I had to weigh the options of being exposed or having a better shower experience.”
The lack of lockable shower doors has been a matter of concern for students and student leaders for years. Sarah McNeil ’25, the former President of Main House, affirmed the efforts of the 2022-23 Main House Team to address the issue, explaining, “Last year, the lack of shower doors was a serious concern that was brought up at House Team on numerous occasions. We were not informed by Residential Life of the existence of any resources or ways to address these issues as it was deemed a facilities issue not within the purview of House Team.” She continued, “I’m so happy to see this year’s House Team work with the Vassar Student Association (VSA) to accomplish this longstanding goal, but it is unfortunate that this responsibility has come to House Teams to remedy.”
This year, student leaders on Main House Team further worked to resolve the issue. Gallion was particularly impassioned after learning about their appointment as Main’s HEO, saying, “When I found out I was going to be HEO, I was really determined to do something about it, because I feel like there’s such a discrepancy between the other houses. Why do other houses have stalls while Main doesn’t?”
Gallion decided to speak with the Main House Advisor, Eva Fontanez, in order to see how they could work together to get doors installed around the showers throughout the house. They explained that they made enough noise in order to have Facilities Operations agree to do something. However, after some time passed without action, they decided to send follow ups in order to make sure the installation would take place.
The effort from Main House Team combined with that of the VSA in order to finally put the plan for lockable doors into action. The VSA Senate passed a bill on the subject that affirmed the utmost importance of the safety, security and privacy of all students, faculty and staff. Calling upon this assertion, the bill advises that all future Vassar constructions include lockable doors for toilets and showers. Importantly, the Senate also made an official recommendation to the College for the lockable shower doors to be installed in Main. It was from this bill that the College was spurred to ensure that the action would be taken.
Gallion remarked on how the process ended up being more accessible than they expected. “It wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be,” they explained. “I thought the reason why we didn’t have shower doors was because maybe people had already been trying and nothing happened.” Because of this, it was exciting to see that the shower doors were installed in November.
Residents were also happy to have better means to protect their privacy. Li stated, “It was weird having just a shower curtain, because I felt much more exposed at times. Now I feel much more comfortable with the door.”
Gallion expressed how this development not only represented a huge win in terms of students’ rights to privacy and comfortable living conditions, but also a heartening perspective on the potential for students’ voices to create tangible change within their own lives. They said, “At Vassar, when you want to get things done, especially with the houses, they do care about student opinion. It’s about activating that agency that you can have and empowering yourself to make some noise about things.”
Currently, a number of showers in Main remain doorless. While the smaller showers that face one another have stall doors, many of the larger accessible showers still only have a curtain. These showers face the entire bathroom, which continues to create concerns over student privacy while using them. Gallion and other student leaders hope to find a way to get doors installed around these showers as well.