In an effort to better “balance the need for safety with the interest of fostering community,” Georgetown will relax its residence hall access policies starting Sept. 12, according to a campus wide e-mail sent yesterday by Senior Vice President Spiros Dimolitsas and Vice President for Student Affairs Todd Olson.
This change ends the lock down policy the administration put in place last spring. While the outside doors of residence halls will remain locked at all times, the outside card readers will be programmed to allow all students, faculty and staff with a valid GOCard to enter. Under the old policy, only students who lived within a specific residence could gain access to the residence. This change corrects what many saw as an unsafe flaw in the old policy, which would not allow a student who did not live in a residence hall enter that hall even, for example, if one felt threatened by someone outside of the hall.
Card readers inside the residence halls will now be used to grant students access. All undergraduates will be able to access the residences from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week, but will have to sign in guests after hours.
The end of the lock down policy is seen by many as a victory for Georgetown University Student Association President Brian Morgenstern (CAS ‘05), who promised to end the lock down policy during his campaign. Morgenstern said he met with several administrators this summer in an attempt to convince the university to allow anyone with GOCard access to all residences. While his ideas were not completely accepted, the administration decided to compromise with the newly announced policy.
The changes, however, are not set in stone; administrators have only agreed to try out the new policy this semester to see if it works. Yesterday’s e-mail explained that the new policy will be revoked if students continue to prop open residence halls doors or increase residence hall vandalism.
Despite these conditions, Morgenstern is optimistic. “I’m thrilled that they are going through with the changes. It shows that the administration is opening up to hear student voices and that they are willing to give us a shot,” he said.
