Within the year, unlocked exterior residence hall doors will become an item of the past, as students will need their college ID cards to gain access to locked dorms, according to recent statements from Dean of Residential Life Martin Redman.
Redman said the new "card access system" would allow a student -- by placing his ID card within close proximity of a card reader by the door's entrance -- to enter into any residence hall.
Phones near residence hall entrances will allow visitors and delivery men to call up to a student's room, Redman said.
Redman announced the changes in a letter delivered to students' Hinman Boxes late yesterday.
Although he said the implementation of such a comprehensive system in all residence halls will require much more research, as well as man-hours in installing wiring into each exterior door, Redman hopes to see it in place by fall 2001.
The new door-locking system, according to Redman, should appease students who are increasingly concerned about residence hall safety, yet still desire access to other dorms and do not want to be hassled with keys.
This move toward locked doors and a card access system has been one long in the making, Redman explained.
In the fall of 1998, a College committee charged with developing safety recommendations strongly suggested that all exterior residence hall doors be locked, a measure which the Office of Residential Life supported.
Yet student reaction to the proposal was largely negative, and as ORL and other administrators became enmeshed in working on the Initiative the debate was tabled for the duration.
But in light of several incidents in which non-Dartmouth students have peeked in on female students showering in residence hall bathrooms, many students brought forth safety concerns, Redman said.
The incidents and the resulting student outcry "heightened the desire to move forward" on the door-locking issue, leading to the recent decision, Redman said.
However, Student Assembly President Jorge Miranda '01 questioned what he saw as Redman's "suprising" and "sudden" decision -- one he said was made without any student input.
According to Miranda, the Assembly was not contacted before Redman issued his letter, and thus whether or not students agree with the door-locking measure, how the decision came about still remains questionable, Miranda said.
And if the College has been contemplating such a move for so long, why was it announced so quickly, Miranda questioned.
Last night, the Student Assembly sent out a BlitzMail message to students soliciting their input, and Miranda hopes to bring together SA members with Redman today to "sit down and figure out what's going on."
According to Redman, he plans to "sit down and have some conversations with students" about the implementation of the plan, although he has not yet been in contact with the Student Assembly.
Yet the new card access system is only one of several recent security upgrades in residence halls, Redman said.
Over the past week combination locks have begun being installed on the entrances of one women's bathroom in each residence hall.
But such a measure Redman views as merely temporary, before the College moves to install locking shower doors in each shower stall across campus by summer's end.
However, Redman emphasized that the new locks and upgraded security measures are only part of the solution.
Until students educate themselves on how the new security systems work, and take measures to protect themselves, safety concerns will remain.
Even with locked doors, strangers could still "tailgate" into residence halls, and unless such unfamiliar faces were to be reported to Safety and Security, another shower incident could still occur, Redman said.
"Just because locks might be on doors doesn't mean the problem's solved," Redman added.
