MSU Infrastructure Planning and Facilities installed hundreds of new classroom door locks over the summer.
This latest update marks the end of a year-and-a-half long lock installation process prompted by the campus shooting that killed three and injured five students in February 2023.
The process has, at times, been a topic of debate on campus. MSU came under scrutiny soon after the shooting due to the lack of locks on all classroom doors. Once the university decided to install locks, the rate of installation and MSU's decision not to adopt all recommendations given by an outside firm last year were also subject to criticism.
With the process now complete, some students and faculty say they are relieved to have the added security measures in the wake of the shooting.
The locks
According to IPF communications manager Erica Venton, 800 classrooms and teaching labs were evaluated for door locks.
"This has been something that they’ve been working on for a long time, and there was a big push this summer to get through them," she said.
Work was done in 59 different buildings across campus, all of which are primary buildings for classes. Every dormitory building containing classrooms received new locks as well as buildings commonly used for large gatherings such as the Kellogg Center, MSU Pavilion and the MSU Auditorium.
The new locks will allow those inside the rooms to lock the doors while still allowing emergency personnel to enter, Venton said. But not all classrooms have the same kind of locks, and some already had the ability to lock prior to the installation process.
Of those 800 classrooms assessed:
When pushed, the lockdown buttons — designated for larger, auditorium-style classrooms — lock all doors into the room and notify emergency personnel. Instructions on how to use the buttons are located next to the doors.
Doors with access control and lockdown buttons are connected to the new security operations center on campus, where they can be automatically locked by employees in the center in case of emergency.
The thumb-turn locks allow for clear identification as to whether or not the door is locked using red and green signage.
Last fall, it appeared that MSU was planning on only installing the thumb turn locks, despite a recommendation from an outside firm’s review to install automatic locks.
The MSU Department of Police and Public Safety's decision at the time was based on locks used by other Big Ten universities, as well as feedback from students and faculty who said doors being locked during instruction could lead to distractions in class.
The firm recommended installing magnetic door holders that could close and lock the door if it were to be open.
MSU DPPS rejected the recommendation, citing that in their assessment the primary need was the ability to lock classroom doors in an expeditious manner and that installing magnetic door holders would not meet that goal.
The locks installed this summer can only be employed when the door is already closed.
There is currently no plan in place to install more locks or update any others.
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Faculty and student response
Printmaking professor d’Ann de Simone had expressed a need for classroom locks prior to the Feb 13, 2023 shooting at a board planning meeting in September 2022.
Simone works in the Kresge Art Center, one of the many buildings on campus where classroom doors didn’t have the option to be locked from the inside.
At the 2022 meeting, she expressed relief over the fact that the university had security plans in the event of a shooting, but her classroom door only being able to be locked from the outside was cause for concern.
Those comments gained traction after the shooting, when MSU's lock system came under scrutiny.
Since the latest updates, the two classrooms Simone teaches in are able to be locked from the inside.
"I think the university took this situation seriously, and I think they did a good job," she said.
Simone’s original concern arose from the fact that cell service is limited in both her classrooms, one in the basement of the building and one on the second floor.
"We would have had a hard time calling for help," she said.
She said that along with the locks, she hopes they bring back the telephones that used to be present in the floor of each hall so there is a way to contact law enforcement in an emergency.
Journalism junior Siddhi Choubey is also relieved by the new installment, but is sad that classroom instruction at MSU will never be as it was before Feb. 13, 2023.
As a journalism student, Choubey has had several classes in the Media Green Room located in the Communication Arts and Sciences Building. Since the updates, the classroom can now be locked from the inside during instruction.
Choubey said she understands why the locks were implemented, especially having been on campus the night of the shooting. But, she will miss having the ability to just walk into a class, she said.
"I think that personal touch of just walking into a classroom, or just experiencing that classroom for what it is kind of goes away because now those locks kind of act as a barrier between the students and whatever class they just want to walk into," she said.
Luckily for Choubey, the MSU DPPS website says students and faculty are recommended to only engage the locks in the case of an emergency and aren't required to keep doors locked during instruction.
