Word: keycards
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Despite the support of the Undergraduate Council, House Masters denies 24 hour universal keycard access to the houses...
Harvard students fell frustratingly short of winning a major victory for campus safety and community this year when the House Masters refused to allow 24-hour access to the Houses for all students. At the start of the spring term, the advent of 24-hour universal keycard access seemed all but certain. For a two-semester trial period, the Houses had kept their doors open to all upperclass students except between the hours of 1:00 and 8:00 a.m. The experiment was a success—students were able to move freely among the Houses, and there...
What has been particularly bewildering about the keycard debate is the Masters’ utter failure to produce a convincing reason for their opposition. They have voiced concerns that extending keycard access would compromise students’ safety and increase the likelihood of property damage. But the comments of the Harvard University Police Department on House safety have not described 24-hour access as posing any significant danger. Moreover, Quincy House has allowed 24-hour access without any sign of increased disruption. Harvard students do not pose a threat to their peers...
...weakest argument against 24-hour universal keycard access has come from Eliot House Master Lino Pertile, who said that the Houses needed to maintain their individuality for at least part of the day. One is left to assume, of course, that this part of the day comes precisely between the hours of 1:00 and 8:00 a.m. We have no quarrel with the Masters’ desire to build a sense of community. But the idea that residents are awash in a sea of House spirit while they sleep, party and do whatever else people do during the dead...
...student members to a number of Faculty committees, including the Committee on House Life, the Committee on College Life, the Committee on Undergraduate Education and the Standing Committee on the Core Program. These committees exert strong influence over decisions that students care about, such as later party hours, universal keycard access and Core credit for departmental classes...