Frosh Dorm Access Universal This Fall

Beginning this fall, upperclassmen will be able to swipe into freshman dormitories, thanks to an initiative proposed by the Undergraduate Council (UC) and approved by campus administrators last week.

Dean of Freshmen Thomas A. Dingman ’67 authorized universal keycard access last Wednesday after meeting earlier in the month with Randall S. Sarafa ’09 and Matthew L. Sundquist ’09, the UC representatives who spearheaded the initiative.

The initial legislation, approved by the council on April 3, called for keycard access to the freshman dorms for all Harvard undergraduates—a resolution that the UC has been fighting for since 2003, Sarafa said.

At a recent meeting with UC representatives, Dingman said that he made the decision to “take a risk” and forge ahead with the initiative, soliciting feedback from administrators and others close to the situation, according to Sarafa.

Dingman said that administrators in the Freshman Deans Office (FDO) had been considering granting universal keycard access for a while, but the initiative began to take shape after Sarafa and Sundquist contacted him in late winter.

UC representatives met earlier in the year with Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) Chief Francis D. “Bud” Riley and Sergeant Robert Cooper to hash out security details surrounding the resolution.

Riley approved the initiative, under the condition that the UC actively work to promote mindfulness about potential security issues, Sundquist said. Neither Riley nor Cooper returned requests for comment.

Beginning this fall, the UC will begin a publicity campaign to educate students and freshmen in particular about being cognizant of their own security and privacy.

Representatives said they plan to distribute literature, give “safety talks,” and work closely with freshmen-centric organizations such as Crimson Key, the Freshmen Deans Office, and the Peer Advising Program to ensure that the initiative is successfully implemented.

“With universal keycard access, our hope is that upperclassmen do not feel unwanted in freshman dorms, and it acts as a community-building initiative by destroying that invisible barrier between the upperclassmen and freshman,” Sarafa wrote in an e-mail to the UC last Wednesday night. Sundquist said that allowing upperclassmen to swipe into all freshmen dormitories will make the Yard more central to student life while encouraging freshmen to partake in more student organizations and activities.

Because a tracking system will keep precise records of who swipes into each dormitory, the universal access system will keep undergraduates more accountable, Sarafa said. He added that in the current system, upperclassmen and non-students may “piggyback in”—that is, follow a freshman into a dorm—without being documented.

Dingman said that he believes the initiative will create greater opportunities for students of all classes to meet but that he does not view it as a great security enhancement.

“If it means that freshmen and upperclassmen will have more interaction, that will be a fine outcome. We must treat the security implications very seriously and count on the students to mount an aggressive campaign to lock their doors in the Yard and not allow piggypacking,” he said.

Dingman added that other administrators have so far been supportive of the initiative.

“I give a lot of credit to the students who worked with Dean Dingman and Chief Riley on this initiative,” Dean of the College Benedict H. Gross wrote in an e-mail.

UC representatives will meet with Dingman throughout the academic year to assess the effects of the universal keycard access initiative.

“If there is significant abuse of it, we would reevaluate it in some sense,” Sarafa said.

The initiative follows College renovations to Yard basements, transforming what used to be student office space into communal social areas. Universal keycard access will allow student groups with upperclassman members to use freshman common rooms and social spaces, he added.

—Staff writer Ying Wang can be reached at yingwang@fas.harvard.edu.