Editorial Perfecting the 'Lockdown' Policy

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Perfecting the 'Lockdown' Policy

A month after the Department of Public Safety responded to an armed burglary on campus by locking the doors of the College's residence halls, the implementation of this response has remained erratic as entrances are locked at varying times and often at random locations. This week, President John McCardell called on the Community Council to take a "comprehensive look" at campus safety issues, specifically taking into account the "long-term" locking of residence halls. Furthermore, he has asked the Community Council to recommend a system to allow residence halls to be "reasonably accessible" to all students while protecting the College community from harm.

If this is to be effective, it is imperative that there be student representation in all discussions and final plans. Students bear the brunt of the so-called 'lockdown' as they live on campus and must deal with it on a daily basis, often being shut out of residence halls when studying or visiting with friends or attending group meetings inside campus residence halls. Acting on behalf of the student body, the Student Government Association, the Community Council and The Middlebury Campus issued their opinions immediately after 'lockdown' began, suggestions that fell by the wayside in subsequent decisions made by the administration. Now, as McCardell has charged the Community Council to develop a long-term program of locking residence halls, it is all the more crucial that student ideas be expressed and strongly considered.

In the meantime, the College must address the short-term locking of residence halls to create a uniform policy so that students will know exactly which halls will be locked and when this will take place. The Campus understands the difficulty of adhering to a schedule of locking when other important issues on campus arise, but to ensure that all residence halls are locked, more Department of Public Safety officers may be needed during the times when the locking and unlocking of doors occur. Members of the administration or Community Council subcommittee might also consider employing Facilities Management personnel to assist in these tasks.

It is important that initiative be taken quickly to address these campus-wide issues, as the current system of locking residence halls remains inconsistent and inadequate. The Community Council has been charged with creating a new system of securing the College, and The Campus urges that it support universal access rights through the use of a swipe system on all residence hall entrances that would be unlocked with each student's identification card. This computerized system can be activated at any time to lock or unlock all entrances at once, ending the need for each door to be tackled manually.

In formulating a comprehensive plan to address safety on campus and to instate a locking policy that is both feasible and regimented, open discussion and debate must be welcomed and taken into consideration. The Community Council has been given the opportunity to begin such a process , and it must be sure to act swiftly and with force to protect the interests of the entire Middlebury community.