Why is getting onto campus so difficult?

Family Weekend has just come and gone, and as an international student, I’m blaming the time difference. My family is visiting during the week, so thankfully, I was not a part of the seagull crowd scrambling for QR codes left and right. That is not an exaggeration. Both main entrances to the University had lines of parents looking to their children for technical help and kids bargaining with the security guards however they could. Meanwhile, other students quietly shuffled past them to get to their classes on time.

While parents swarming campus can lead to a lot of stress and hassle for children and public safety alike, it’s the perfect example of how the QR code system does not work.

The initial system was contrived to control the student protests on campus, and the system goes as follows:

O – Open. All campus entry points are open and campus is open to everyone.

I – ID only. Campus access is limited to ID holders only.

R – Restricted. CUID (Columbia University ID) holders only.

While this system fluctuates based on the intensity of protests on campus, the protests themselves are organized by students who happen to be CUID holders. So… it seems to me that regardless of whether the campus is on O, I, or R status, there is no difference for the protesters themselves. It mostly affects students and lecturers hoping to bring non-CUID holders into Columbia in the previous spirit of campus culture.

Family Weekend is now over, and the cries for QR codes have died down. But every time a guest lecturer or friend arrives, the familiar clicking of names, phone numbers, UNIs, and emails will be entered into that short, succinct form as quickly as possible to meet the deadline before the next day—all with the hope that campus won’t suddenly change its status between now and then. I’m sure most of us look forward to the day when campus reopens and these systems become a thing of the past.

QR Code via DeviantArt