A Plan to Unlock Campus?

Is there a plan to unlock campus buildings again or is our continued locked-down status just supposed to be our norm now?

I’ve been looking forward to seeing the doors to my academic building return to unlocked as campus activities have resumed following the campus shut-down of 2020, but this hasn’t happened. Our main lobby doors are in sight of a full-time security guard and so it’s been surprising and inconvenient that they have remained locked, particularly given that a PennCard has always been required to enter the floors above the lobby. As winter comes, visitors will have to wait outside until we retrieve them or until they make themselves and their reason for visiting understood on the security boxes outside. Is this necessary when the lobby is already staffed?

Recently, I have had reason to go to Houston Hall to attend campus meetings and work the polls on Election Day and I have been disappointed that all but one entry to the nation’s oldest student union remains locked during business hours. This is both a prominent campus meeting place and also the closest dining location for the tens of thousands of Penn admissions visitors annually. Outside Houston Hall you can spot people tugging on the big, historically unlocked doors in vain.  

Who is making the decision to keep campus buildings locked? Is there a plan to reopen them? These locked buildings are both inconvenient and unfriendly; but also, knowing that our movements around campus can be tracked with every door swipe entry, in addition to the 168 cameras mounted around the core Penn campus alone, is disconcerting. It seems undemocratic that we would move to this continually locked down and tracked status without a broader campus community discussion. Who is making the decisions that are keeping campus doors locked and do we have any say?

—Heather Calvert (GR’14), Staff, School of Arts and Sciences

Response from the Division of Public Safety

We appreciate your feedback about building access. 

The University secures spaces on campus while still allowing for access to the greater community. We call this initiative Operation Building Safe (OBS). An OBS-compliant building provides a welcoming environment by identifying a main entrance staffed by a concierge or security officer; at the entrance, the concierge or officer is responsible for greeting guests, offering PennCard access, and/or operating an intercom that grants guest access. These options are available to all guests during the building’s hours of operation. Additional building access remains available to those with PennCard access and includes signage indicating door locations and guest entrances. All exterior doors are always available for egress.

Data shows that theft and other crimes are reduced when a building practices OBS. This also allows us to quickly secure buildings during an emergency, such as an active threat. Many buildings in the Greater Philadelphia area practice similar security measures. Our goal is to ensure all building occupants are safe and comfortable while working, studying, and researching. 

The University and its Division of Public Safety are committed to the safety and wellbeing of the Penn and West Philadelphia communities. This practice ensures a welcoming and safe environment for students, staff, faculty, alumni, and visitors.

—Division of Public Safety 

Speaking Out welcomes reader contributions. Short timely letters on University issues can be accepted, subject to right-of-reply guidelines.—Ed.