In preparation for Unofficial St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, University and private certified housing are adjusting their usual policies, primarily in the area of guest policies.

University Housing, which is responsible for about 9,000 students in its residence halls, is continuing its policies from previous years for the event and barring residents from hosting non-University guests March 1-3.

“Unofficial has proven itself to be a direct threat of the academic mission of the University of Illinois,” said Kirsten Ruby, assistant director of housing for marketing. “A lot of that threat appears to come from other colleges and universities that come to campus.”

Illini Tower, a private certified hall, is taking similar measures but is allowing residents to sign in guests from outside the University.

“We’re going to only allow one guest for the entire weekend, whereas generally it’s (one) per night,” said Marta Kazmierczak, director of leasing at Illini Tower. “We do this to allow for students who are not participating in Unofficial to not necessarily be interrupted with their normal daily lifestyle.”

In addition to the change in guest policies, University residence halls will increase security with an increased presence of both residential staff and the University of Illinois Police Department, Ruby said.

Austin can be reached at [email protected].