Gribble takes a student’s ID Monday night at East Holden Hall. Gribble and other night receptionists camp out by the main doors from midnight to 7 a.m. to check students in and enforce dorm safety.
Crimes in residence halls during the past two weeks have led to increased safety concerns among students and are forcing university officials to consider different ways of keeping residents safe.
An electronic key card system, requiring students to scan their student ID to enter living wings, was installed in Holden Hall days after two on-campus sexual assaults were reported in two days, and a week after police shut down an alleged scam that preyed on students living in residence halls.
“It’s sort of scary trying to go to class or even leaving a group meeting or something at night,” said Courtney Conyers, a general management freshman who lives in Akers Hall. “You just have to be cautious and aware of your surroundings.”
Ron Reamer, the university’s access control manager, said his division of MSU police is working on installing electronic control systems for residence halls across campus that would require students to scan a key card to gain entrance to the living wings of the halls. Similar systems are used in Emmons, Snyder, Phillips and Holden halls.
“I think we’d definitely make buildings more secure,” Reamer said. “We could control who comes in and out of the living wing, depending on how the building is being operated. By confining it to residents and their friends, we’ll be less likely to have people just wandering through the dorms.”
University Housing Director Angela Brown said her department evaluates residence hall security levels when halls are renovated to determine what further protective measures can be taken. She said student reactions to the electronic key card systems already in place have been mixed.
“Some students like them and are very comfortable with the system, and some find it inconvenient,” Brown said. “But when you think about the multiple uses for our residence halls, it’s important to be able to secure the living-area wings.”
The electronic key card system in Emmons Hall cost $82,000 to install in 2004. Other halls’ key card systems were similar in cost, Brown said.
The system will be expanded to include Owen Graduate Hall and Brody Hall in the summer, Reamer said.
Lauren McCulloch, an animal science freshman who lives in Armstrong Hall, said she wishes her building had the key card system that Holden Hall and others have implemented.
“I think that would be a lot safer,” she said.
To provide proper security, university officials combine several layers of protection, Brown said. She said the electronic key card system, coupled with security cameras, police presence and night receptionists, should substantially increase students’ safety.
“One of them alone isn’t enough to effectively provide security, but all of them grouped together can provide for a much more secure facility for students,” Brown said.
Reamer said incidents like the sexual assault in Holden Hall and the alleged scam in East Complex residence halls could still happen if people entering restricted areas allowed others to follow them through the open door.
“It’s hard to say whether these incidents would have been prevented,” Reamer said.
“(The key card system) may have kept those people out, but it may not have worked if someone with card access was followed in.”
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