College administrators will not proceed with the controversial proposal to lock all residence hall doors -- at least not for the upcoming Fall term.
Student backlash against the door-locking proposal has prompted administrators to seek further input from the student body before proceeding with any plan, Acting Dean of Residential Life Mary Liscinsky said.
Under the plan, proposed by Director of Residential Operations Woody Eckels last term, students would have a master key to unlock all building entrances on campus. Students who live off-campus could obtain a key with a $30 deposit.
A series of incidents involving vandalism and unwanted attention in Streeter residence hall at the end of Winter term prompted discussion of the College's door locking policies.
The plan sparked heated debate within the College community after the Student Assembly supported the door-locking proposal on May 26.
Eckels' proposal called for the installation of campus telephones at the main entrances to each residence hall to allow non-students to call inside.
Eckels called the plan a "$12,000 experiment" which would test the waters for a more expensive electronic card access system.
Before the vote, Eckels told the Assembly that Dean of the College Lee Pelton pledged to support the plan if the Assembly approved of it.
However, despite Assembly support, student reaction against the proposal prompted administrators to delay putting a door-locking policy into place, Acting Dean of Residential Life Mary Liscinsky said.
Instead, Liscinsky said she will put together a committee this Summer term, made up of students and administrators who will be charged with researching possibilities and making a proposal to the dean of the College. Among ideas the committee will consider are a two-key system or an ID card swipe system, according to Liscinsky.
After the Assembly's vote in May, newly elected Assembly President Josh Green '00, who voted in favor of the proposal, told The Dartmouth he was not concerned about casting one of his first major votes as Assembly president-elect against the majority opinion of the student body.
"I think what I felt ... was a distinction between what I feel and what a majority of the students feel," he told The Dartmouth in May.
Green said yesterday that the administration paid close attention to student opinion and decided "the system wasn't going to work if students weren't in favor of it."
Green said administrators saw student dissatisfaction at the town meeting through articles printed in The Dartmouth and through BlitzMail messages sent to both Green and administrators.
"I think it's a clear indication that the Assembly could have done better in terms of informing and representing the student body," Green said. "It indicates that it's something we need to step up."
Green said he thinks it is probable that the administration will eventually decide to change the current door locking system.
"I think there is a consensus in the administration that they'd like to make things safer," Green said.
