Safety and Security is completing the installation of new card-access locks on academic and administrative buildings. This final transition to card access will ensure efficient campus safety. 

“Wherever a St. Lawrence University student puts their head on a pillow, they’re behind some form of access control,” said Patrick Gagnon, Assistant VP of Safety & Security and Emergency Management. Safety and Security is working on finishing the final touches of the campus’s perimeter card access control. Older academic buildings such as Hepburn Hall and Richardson Hall as well as administrative buildings are now being completed with card access. Gagnon discussed that the project is about 99 percent done and mentioned that after installing the card access in the main points of entry to buildings, they were asked by the campus community to add additional card access to more doors. This will require more time and resources to complete. 

The card access control system has opened a new type of safety on campus that the previous system did not allow. Safety and Security can control the locks for all points of entry for emergencies and after business hours. Additionally, they assign rights to each student’s card that allows for specificity in which students can access which buildings and when. “It also gives us the flexibility just for a normal course of business, more efficiency,” said Gagnon.  

Before the card access control system, SLU was using keys for the buildings. The switch was made in 1997 when Gagnon started at SLU and Daniel F. Sullivan, the president of SLU at the time, tasked him with introducing the first card access control system. “I went out and talked to students, staff and faculty and brought the idea of card access to their minds,” said Gagnon. The following presidents, William L. Fox and Kathryn A. Morris, have continued to encourage the advance of the card access control system.  

While there have been problems this academic year with card access, Safety and Security has done a good job of responding. The first-year dorm Priest had a door with broken card access, allowing anyone to open the door without having to use their card. “It was such a relief when I forgot my key card. Just knowing that there was always a door that could actually get in the building,” said Carson Hanna ’27, a resident of Priest. However, not everyone enjoyed the broken door. “As someone who never uses that door anyway, and even with it unlocked I never used it,” said Emma Rubin ’27, another resident of Priest. While this was convenient for forgetful students who lost their cards, this posed a safety concern to the community. “I didn’t like it,” said Rubin regarding the safety of the situation. The front door of Priest has been fixed since, showing the response from Safety and Security, but also the issues that can happen with card access. 

The completion of campus-wide card access will ensure the safety of the SLU community, and make sure everyone has appropriate access to buildings. Make sure to look out for an email when all the improvements are done. “This is a huge leap and I’m really proud that we got this opportunity,” said Gagnon.