Take action, policy change starts at home

Author: Ricky Klein '07

Four years ago, Middlebury College maintained a policy that buildings would be unlocked around the clock - a policy which was the envy of many other schools and a selling point to hundreds of students. One could argue that locking the doors between the hours of 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. was a symbolic gesture towards conformity with other schools. Certainly, no one could think it a preventative measure with students going in and out of buildings at all hours of the day and night and holding doors for each other as thoughtful citizens.

With the first recent policy change my ire began to grow. Are we, the educated, unable to detach ourselves from the fear-ridden society which surrounds us? This is a society that allows an arguably democratic government to impose laws and bizarre terror alerts upon us that only foster alarm. We are not just falling victim to the plague of fear but creating our own.

This is not about the frustration of forgetting your access card, as surely someone will let you in, this policy is much greater than that.

For those of you who have had someone wander into your room at four in the morning, I'm sure having the door locked mid-day will be a great comfort.

In fact, speaking as an individual who has experienced an early morning visitor, I can say that it does not. I did not report the "intruder." I was just thankful that he did not yawn a rainbow onto my carpet. He mumbled but a few words, from which I divined that he had wandered to the wrong end of the hall and was searching for his own room. Startling? Yes. But, cause for any real alarm? Definitely not.

Now, I'm not calling for students to protest this change by propping doors. Yet, if night comes and I find myself without an access card, I shall merely sit in the snow and wait for the glorious drift into hypothermia. For it seems that nobody should trust me enough to let me into my own building - that is not the American thing to do.