By Katie Pedlowe

Staff Writer

Forgetful students may want to consider wearing their keys around their necks after a new residence hall door policy took effect Oct. 19.

Entrance doors to all PLNU residence halls will now remain locked 24 hours a day.

Mark Galbraith, director of Public Safety, teamed with Residential Life to create the new policy.

“There was no specific incident that prompted the new locked-door policy,” said Galbraith. “It is merely an update to best practices that most universities now adhere to in the USA.”

Galbraith encourages students to lock their own doors to reduce the risk of theft. He urges students to call Public Safety if there are any suspicious strangers in residence halls and stresses the importance of making sure each room has no security issues like broken doors, windows or lights.

Nease Hall resident Erica Wessels said this sort of policy has already been in place.

“This won’t change anything for me,” said Wessels. “We already have the doors locked 24/7. But I do think it’s a good idea for the rest of the halls to lock their doors so there aren’t any creepers or critters that sneak in.”

It is anticipated that the locked-door policy will increase overall safety and security in the residence halls Galbraith noted, as a collaborative effort over the past semester based on ways to make PLNU an even safer campus.

The policy is shaping up to be something of an inconvenience for students with faulty memories. Kim Riddle, resident director of Klassen, sent out a hall-wide e-mail regarding residents who have forgotten their keys. She encouraged residents to carry their keys and to stop propping hall doors open during the day.

Riddle knew at once that there would be an issue with residents forgetting their keys, she said.

“We had to decide which was more important … the safety of our students versus the inconvenience of having to carry your key,” she said.

Riddle removed the mechanism that kept the front doors of Klassen propped open so that students will not be tempted to leave the doors unlocked. The only time the door will be unlocked is during the box hours when a resident assistant is on duty.