As of Sept. 21, all DU students must use their Pioneer ID cards to gain access to residence halls. After about a year of deliberation, several departments came together to bring about this change, primarily the Department of Campus Safety and Housing and Residential Education. The decision was made in order to create safer access to campus housing.

This comes after past incidents where questionable individuals have gained access to residence halls. DCS and the Denver Police Department (DPD) handled those situations swiftly, according to Sgt. Stephen Banet of DCS.

According to Banet, a recent incident that reinforced this change came after “a person with a criminal history” entered a residence hall, during the Sept. 1 to Sept. 20 frame where no IDs were required to enter buildings. The man had trespassed onto DU after being told he was not allowed back on campus and was later arrested by DPD.

First year student Mieke VanErven describes the mandatory ID swipes as “during the day, it’s kind of a nuisance, but in a way it does make you safer.”

Executive Director of Housing and Residential Education Demitrius Brown said that since June 2012, the conversation “had been going on annually,” and recent occurrences of trespassing and unwanted visits came long after the ID swiping initiative had been considered.

Brown also added that the 24/7 lockdown on all residence halls will remain a standard for future years. The grace period given to students from Sept. 1 to Sept. 20 will not exist again.

“When a student comes to DU we’re going to use that opportunity to educate them about being safe in the community,” said Brown, “During move-ins, yes, you will have some free access just because we have a number of people going in and out. But after move-ins are complete, we’re going to go back to the 24/7 lock.”

There will be no penalties for losing a Pioneer ID. In the event an ID is lost, another one can be acquired in the Driscoll Student Center for a fee of $20.