In 22 Jump Street, Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum’s characters waltz through the hallways of the most generic college dorm ever. Half of the lights do not work and the cement-block walls are plastered with posters.

This mural of flyers and advertisements is a hallmark of any campus movie. But this scene could never take place at Boston College. 

Here, students must submit their flyers to the Division of Student Affairs and undergo an overly restrictive approval process in order to simply promote what is going on around campus. 

And even once they are approved, these posters can only be placed in select locations. 

While we agree that there should be some baseline level of approval for posters, these restrictions are granular and suffocating. 

To find the policies regarding flyers and other postings at BC, a quick Google search leads you to the “posting policy,” an outdated PDF from 2009. The document directs further questions to the now-defunct Student Programs Office.

The first rule states that flyers must be associated with a registered student organization. Students looking to advertise freelance work, parents searching for babysitters, or community members hosting local events simply cannot do so without sponsorship from a BC club.

Why shouldn’t the greater BC community have a reliable way to advertise and display their messages to other students? The University should prioritize connecting students with the world beyond Comm. Ave and Beacon Street.

But the process isn’t seamless for BC organizations, either. There are requirements for every aspect of an 8.5” x 11” flyer—contact information, a blank square for an approval stamp, and a submission to the student life calendar. It even specifies the tape and pushpins you must use to post something. (“NEVER use stickers, duct tape, packing tape, or ‘fun tak’ type materials,” in case you were wondering.)

Even after student organizations receive approval for their postings, there’s more. 

There are only three areas on campus where students can freely hang posters—the O’Neill stairwell, the first floor of Mac, and academic buildings—along with the sparse number of information boards. 

“There is one What’s Up Bulletin board in each academic building,” the policy reads. “The bulletin board locations are: Carney 1st floor, Cushing 1st floor [the building torn down in 2019, not the residence hall], Devlin basement, Fulton 2nd and 3rd floors, Gasson 1st floor, Higgins 3rd floor, Lyons basement, Merkert 1st floor, and McGuinn 1st floor.”

Outside of these locations, students must obtain secondary approval from individual managers or supervisors to post in their buildings—an unrealistic expectation that discourages students from securing their postings.

The policies that require this approval are some of the very places on campus where students are not rushing from class to class: all dining halls, all residence halls, and the Margot Connell Recreation Center.

At the end of the day, it’s flyers. They’re paper, they’re harmless, and they’re an easy way to get a message out there. We understand that there must be some approvals for things plastered on BC property, but let’s get rid of all the red tape (and stickers, duct tape, packing tape, and “fun tak”).