Cuicacalli Suites has changed its security procedures three times in less than one month.
New security procedures went into effect at Cuicacalli Suites Monday, March 21, according to an email sent to all residents by Residence Hall Coordinator Amber Anderson.
From the email, “you will have to hand your Red ID to the Desk Assistant or Security Monitor every time you enter the building.” Residents previously were only required to flash their Red IDs, which have a colored sticker for their assigned residence hall, when entering.
Tepeyac and Tacuba are the two buildings within Cuicacalli Suites.
Anderson said the reason for the initial changes is there were “multiple people using others’ IDs” and “putting stickers on old IDs.”
“Your fellow peers have abused our trust in just flashing their IDs,” she said.
She also said the new procedures are “to maintain safety and security.”
Despite the change in procedures, Director of Residential Education Kara Bauer said “no policy changes have been made with regard to checking IDs when students enter the first year residence halls. Our desk assistants are trained to look at student photos and sticker colors as students enter the building. If students are caught bringing in an ID that does not belong to them or giving someone their ID to use to get into the residence halls, they will be referred to the Center for Student Rights and Responsibilities. In our larger buildings with busier desks such as Cuicacalli, this task can be more challenging. Therefore the desk assistants have been asking students to physically hand them their Red IDs in order to confirm the student lives in the building.“
Cuicacalli is the only residence hall affected by the changes in security procedures, although its population is comparable to those of Chapultepec and Zura.
However, the new procedures were reverted with no warning Monday, April 11.
Residents were not notified by email as they had been when the procedures were first implemented.
Most found out about the change upon entering the residence hall after their first classes on Monday.
Procedures were then changed a third time on Monday, April 18, once again with no notification of any kind.
Residents entering the building on Monday were instructed by desk assistants that they must “pause” to allow them to ensure the red ID of each individual entering the building matches their face, although this most recent change was somewhat spottily enforced.
Anderson confirmed the latest procedural changes and said “when you have a desk staff of 30 people, it can be hard at times to keep everything consistent.” However, she did not respond to requests for further comment.
The repeated changes in procedures, and especially the lack of notification, have irked many residents.
“it’s annoying to say the least … you’re not kept in the loop about things, and it directly impacts you. I would have liked to have been notified and kept on the same page, because they (the desk assistants) have to stop you and tell every single person who doesn’t know,” said Alec Litofsky, a Cuicacalli resident. “Why not just send out an email? And I get that they want to protect us, and that’s cool because I don’t just want anybody coming in here, but you have to slide (your Red ID) to get in the door, you have to pause while they look at your ID, then you have to slide again to get into the next door, and then you have to slide again to get into your suite. It’s repetitive, redundant, and annoying.”
