In a misguided attempt to make campus safer, the University has attempted to increase security by implementing a 24-hour lock down policy at all dorms. This means that students’ GOCards only allow them access to the building in which they live. Last year’s policy stated that students with a valid Georgetown ID could enter any dorm between 8:30 a.m. and 9 p.m., and only their own dorms after 9 p.m. The policy maintained that the residence halls were secure 24 hours a day due to the student guards posted from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. on weekdays and 11 a.m to 2 a.m on weekends.
This new policy was conceived as part of a campus-wide security program proposed after Sept. 11. The program also provided for an increase in campus lighting and the hiring of a new Special Assistant to the President for Emergency Preparedness. Only allowing certain students into certain dorms is not a valid step towards protecting the University from a terrorist attack or disaster of any kind, making the new policy unnecessary.
As students at this University, we should have the right to enter any residence hall on campus. We are all familiar with the honor code and the consequences of violating it. Keeping students out of residence halls to prevent theft or vandalism is an insult to both the morals and intelligence of the student body.
Denying students access to all dorms also creates a safety hazard?a student who was being followed, for example, would not be able to get into a dorm to avoid a dangerous situation.
Although the residence halls are primarily used for student housing, other services are located there as well. Students would only be able to meet with chaplains-in-residence living in their buildings. Access to the Muslim Student Prayer Room, located in Copley, would be limited to students who expressed interest and arranged to have their cards encoded. Also, packages for students that live in Harbin are sent to the RHO in Village C West, so Harbin residents would be unable to enter the building to receive their mail. Copley, a dorm with four entrances, only has a GOCard reader at one door, making the three most convenient entrances completely useless.
Not only is the new 24-hour lock down policy inconvenient and offensive, it is unnecessary. The University should trust students and adequately provide for their safety in relevant ways, rather than initiating sweeping, unwarranted changes in an effort to make the campus appear more secure.
