Last semester, The Scout investigated the security of Bradley’s QuickCards, detailing possible vulnerabilities in building and ID security systems. Shortly after, university officials alerted campus of their plans to update the system in order to address these weaknesses.
Starting in May, administration began taking a closer look at Bradley’s housing units, academic buildings and the QuickCard itself. They worked through the end of the spring semester and the summer months to implement changes they felt would make campus a safer and more secure place.
Access to campus residences was updated. Bradley’s ID cards were changed cosmetically – now student ID numbers cannot be copied from the front of a card. Officials are also currently working to make academic buildings safer by working on the card access points for places such as Bradley Hall, Westlake Hall and Michel Student Center.
In all honesty, members of The Scout did not expect university administration to follow through on their promises to upgrade campus security as quickly as they did. But the changes were immediate, seamless and ready to go by the beginning of the new school year.
We believe this shows how seriously Bradley is taking the issue. Blame wasn’t placed on the student body when concerns about ID security arose, and nobody said: “Students should be more responsible with their QuickCards.” Administration didn’t make excuses about the updates, so no one said: “We will need more time to implement these updates.”
Instead, officials addressed these security concerns swiftly and appropriately – in a manner which set the standard for how all future university issues should be dealt.
It bodes well for this academic year. We sincerely hope future Scout editorials continue to have this tone.
