At 12 a.m. every morning, all outside doors in most of the residence halls, except for the main entrances, are locked even for students who live there. This may have been a surprise to some freshmen, who stumbled door to door after a late night of partying, unable to enter until they got to the main entry of their residence hall.
Most main entrances are manned by a night receptionist, on duty from 11:30 p.m., a half an hour before the doors lock, to 7 a.m., when they unlock again. Students who reside in the hall are required to slide their MSU student ID through a small slot in the door, at which point the night receptionist will scan their card and let the student in.
“Our job is to keep anyone that could cause harm to the students out of here and to make sure the students are being safe because, you know, it’s college,” said packaging junior Matthew Fitzpatrick, who is a supervisor for all night receptionists in East Neighborhood.
They also are responsible for registering guests who visit at night, and according to the On-Campus Housing Handbook, a student cannot sign in more than three guests at a time. Guests also cannot stay more than three consecutive nights.
“If someone I let in, that I shouldn’t have let in, did something wrong then I would get in trouble,” said Evan Williams, a night receptionist and social relations and policy senior.
In the event that the student does not have their ID, all hope is not lost. Each night receptionist has a list of all students who live in the dorm and, provided the student can be identified by a roommate or suite-mate, can still enter the building.
Other duties of the night receptionists are to watch a monitor, which lights up every time a door opens to the outside of the building, and to make sure they aren’t open for too long, such as when a student may be letting their friends in through non-official channels.
There is a common sight that many night receptionists see on a regular basis.
“You see a lot of people come in that are just completely wasted,” Williams said. “But we are supposed to call the RA’s if they aren’t able to walk or the supervisors or police because at that point it could be dangerous.”
While some may find the restrictions inconvenient, many students believe the rules give them peace of mind. Computer science freshman Erik Kuhn said many people don’t follow the guest rules and sign people in. Nevertheless, he agrees that the restrictions should be in place.
“I like it just for it being there,” Kuhn said. “I guess it makes me feel safe.”
