BATON ROUGE (AP) — LSU freshmen will have to live on campus, starting in the fall of 2009 — the first time campus residency requirement in three decades, under a plan approved Friday by the university’s governing board.

Chancellor Sean O’Keefe told the LSU Board of Supervisors that the requirement will help improve grade point averages and graduation rates. Supporters said on-campus living can remove some of the distractions faced by college students.

The university doesn’t provide enough parking for on-campus living and students are worried about poor lighting and women’s safety, said student body president Cassie Alsfeld, who cast the only vote against the residency requirement.

The board approved a three-year pilot proposal that will require entering freshmen in 2009, 2010 and 2011 to live on campus. Their grades will be analyzed to determine if the requirement appears to lift first-year students’ GPAs in those years, O’Keefe said.

Older freshmen, those with a spouse or dependent children, and those who already live in the Baton Rouge area will be exempt.