By Ray Dillon
If you live on campus at the University of Louisville, you’ve probably been piggybacked and didn’t even know it.
“Piggybacking” is what U of L Director of Housing Shannon Staten called the most successful way a non-resident can gain access to any housing facility on campus. Strangers can simply follow a resident through a door once the resident uses his or her key.
After numerous reports of crime in and around campus residence halls and apartments, The Louisville Cardinal tested security at both U of L residence halls and University of Louisville Properties buildings to see how far a non-resident reporter without a key could get into certain facilities. Reporters concentrated on two buildings from each group: Kurz and Bettie Johnson halls represented ULP buildings while Stevenson Hall and Unitas Tower represented U of L buildings.
Test 1: ULP buildings
At Bettie Johnson and Kurz Hall, our non-resident was able to piggyback his way into both buildings and bypass the front desks.
In the case of Kurz Hall, the desk attendant was not looking. And Bettie Johnson’s front desk staff was busy with several people loitering in the lobby and around the desk.
Once inside the ULP facilities, keys were no longer necessary to access stairways or elevators. Our non-resident reported seeing several of the resident doors opened. Without being stopped or questioned, he was also able to walk into the media room, where televisions and other media equipment were stationed, as well as the computer rooms.
Kurz desk assistant Mike Dennis, a sophomore marketing major, said that he had no problems with safety anywhere on U of L’s campus. “I feel perfectly safe on campus, and I have no problem walking here at night.” However, Dennis remarked that instances of break-ins “can happen anywhere.”
Test 2: U of L buildings
At Unitas Tower and Stevenson Hall, our non-resident was able to piggyback his way into the buildings and managed to get past the front desks.
However, the lobby of each building was the farthest he was able to get. Every stairwell and elevator required a key to gain access.
Upon hearing The Cardinal’s findings, Staten said that while the university cannot be prepared for every single possible scenario, she was confident they have taken more than enough proactive preventative measures to provide security for its students.
Unitas desk assistant Kristina Meadows, a sophomore English major, said that the hall receives about 30 guests per day. “You’ll see [piggybacking] sometimes on weekends, when some people may have been drinking. But overall, I haven’t seen too much of it.”
What is different?
Like residence halls, ULP facilities are designed to prevent access by non-residents without keys: Both have front desks that are staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
But unlike more traditional residence halls – buildings like Stevenson and Unitas – there is no sign-in policy for guests, and there are fewer locked doors.
“If a student chooses to live in a ULP facility, they are choosing an environment designed to be more open and less restrictive than the residence halls,” Staten said.
Staten said although access is more free in ULP facilities, as The Cardinal discovered, there are also other measures to ensure security in those buildings.
There are cameras in and around the hallways and stairwells of both ULP and housing facilities, she said. Nevertheless, there are lobby and stairwell cameras in many U of L residence halls too.
Staten said the front desks at both ULP and housing facilities are staffed from 8 a.m. to midnight by full-time resident advising staff and a contracted security firm. And from midnight to 8 a.m., full-time security staffs these positions.
“I feel much safer living in U of L housing,” said freshman art major Liz Farrar. “I’ve been over to ULP, and I think it can be much more dangerous over there.”
Kristen Lemieux, a freshman accounting major and resident of Community Park, said she felt that ULP has taken measures to improve safety. “Someone tried to sneak in behind me, and the desk assistant stopped him immediately.”
ULP representatives declined to comment.
A second look
Although work on this story began before a recent incident in which an acquaintance of a resident pulled a gun on a person in Community Park, The Cardinal decided to visit this building as well to see if security had been increased.
Building staff in Community Park denied three of our non-residents access to the building.
Cardinal reporters were initially unable to enter the main door of the building, as a resident key was needed to access the lobby door.
But reporters were able to piggyback a female resident into the lobby. Once inside, however, they were immediately stopped and asked by front desk staff if they were either residents or with the female resident.
After admitting that this was a test on security of campus housing, the reporters were asked to leave the building.
