When freshmen move into the residence halls, they are told to keep their i-card with them at all times.

This piece of plastic is the only way for students to enter their buildings during certain hours, unless they ask a very polite bystander.

“The card swipe system allows permission for specific times in a specific people,” said Kirsten Ruby, assistant director of housing for marketing.

“Students can contribute to a safe living environment by being aware and familiar with the people who live in their building,” Ruby said.

However, some students find it difficult to close a door in a stranger’s face.

“You can’t just cut people off if you open the doors,” said Jim Ashley, junior in LAS. “You can’t just deny them access because you don’t know who they are.”

But Ashley also recognized that if a person is looking to gain access to the building, their motives might be unclear.

“They may look like a nice person, but you don’t know who they are,” Ashley said.

In Ashley’s opinion, this is not something that is easy to fix.

“I don’t know what else they could do, but their needs to be a better way,” he said. “Signs don’t do a whole lot.”

However, Ashley believes these occurrences to be minimal.

After living in Snyder Hall for two years, he has never heard of anything serious happening after someone swiped a stranger in.

“I think their next step would really be to have someone on guard, which is pretty impractical,” said Amanda Spizzirri, freshman in LAS. “There is no real way to minimize (students letting other people into the residence halls). Students will do it regardless.”

Overall, Spizzirri believes that students are pretty good at recognizing potential threats.

“But there will always be that one occurrence that is surprising,” she said.

According to Ruby, the University policy states that all guests must be escorted around the residence halls at all times.

If there is a suspicious person walking around, the resident needs to call for help from a resident adviser, staff member or local police.

“If someone is not escorted through the hall, students should (be proactive) and ask who they’re with,” Ruby said. “If they’re not with someone, (the resident) should seek assistance immediately.”