Students who lack card access to card-locked residences such as Fauver, Clark and the Butts may not have to wait around much longer for their friends to let them inside: in what Mike Pernick ’08 called a “compromise solution” between students and University administration, the Office of Residential Life (ResLife) announced on Tuesday that it has extended students’ access to card-locked residences. Previously, resident buildings that were accessed by swiping a WesCard recognized only cards belonging to residents. However, now each resident may grant limited building access to up to three other students who do not live in the building.
Pernick, who is chair of the Student Affairs Committee (SAC) of the Wesleyan Student Assembly (WSA), said that more extensive options were under consideration in the spring, when the Undergraduate Residential Life Committee (URLC) responded to the continued demand of students.
“The general sentiment was that students want all access for all buildings,” he said.
There are currently 10 dormitories whose accessibility is card-configured, as well as woodframe houses 202 and 230 on Washington Street. Their residents, who will be able to register guests under the new card access system, total 1,392 students, close to half of the student body. As of 4 p.m. Thursday, ResLife received 161 requests.
Initially, the URLC planned to give each card-locked building the option to vote upon whether wider access to the building should be granted. However, residents would only be able to grant access to other students in the same class year. If the Butterfields voted to open access, for example, because its residents are in the freshman and sophomore years, only non-residents from the freshman and sophomore years would be granted access.
The committee’s deliberation switched gears after the massacre at Virginia Tech, a school shooting in which student Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people and wounded others, including in campus residences.
“In light of the incident at Virginia Tech, some administrators and some students on last year’s URLC were uncomfortable with such a drastic change to the card access policy,” Pernick said.
Instead, the new system expands card access while limiting the number of “guests” to a building per resident “host.” Director of Residential Life Fran Koerting, who co-chairs the URLC with Pernick, said that the committee expects students to choose siblings, significant others, or close friends within the student body to gain access to their building.
“These should be people who are closest to you rather than your whole circle of friends,” Koerting said.
When selecting the three other non-residents who will also be granted access to their dorms, students should remember they are still liable for any problems with noise, vandalism or physical damage to their residences. The card readers at entrances register which cards have been swiped, which helps track which students entered the building around the time that vandalism or a noise complaint was reported. However, if no student or students come forward for damage to a building, residents must divide between themselves the cost of repairs.
Koerting advised that students choose their guests carefeully.
“People who don’t live in that building may not treat it with as much respect as those who do live there,” she said. “You’re responsible for their actions since they wouldn’t have had access to the building without you requesting it.”
Director of Physical Plant Cliff Ashton echoed the importance of responsible action.
“I would certainly hope that we would not see an increase in damage to residences, expecting that students use good judgment with who they issue guest cards to and hold their guests accountable for any damage that they caused,” Ashton said.
In addition, registered guests may only enter a card-access building during limited hours. Sunday through Wednesday, they may access the building between 10 a.m. and 12 a.m. Thursday through Saturday, they may access it between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. Koerting explained the schedule.
“The committee wanted to strike a balance between maintaining privacy for the residents early in the morning and convenience for visitors, and minimize the likelihood of vandalism being done by non-residents, which tends to happen late on weekend nights,” she said.
Both Koerting and Pernick expressed that the new system is a pilot and that the URLC is monitoring its success, but that the initial response has been positive.
“We were hearing lots of excitement about it as students were returning to campus, even before the email was sent,” Koerting said. “We have not yet heard any concerns from students about the new initiative.”
“At the end of this semester, I can ensure that the URLC will reevaluate the card access policy and discuss how it can be expanded to give Wesleyan students greater ability to visit their friends,” Pernick said.
Students can access the request form online at www.wesleyan.edu/reslife. They may submit requests until Nov. 1 for the fall semester and between Jan. 20 and April 1 for the spring semester.
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