We are deeply concerned by the reported changes in ID card policy that are slotted to be implemented during the academic year. It is beneath the dignity of the University of Notre Dame to continue to demand more and more control over the locations and lives of students. We are shocked by the reports that RAs were ordered to not discuss the impending change, and that there were RAs who feared retaliation for discussing the impending change with their peers. We believe that this change would make the lives of students, especially the lives of students with disabilities, more difficult in concrete and substantial ways. We believe that this change would pose significant harm to certain student businesses and clubs, many of whom utilize their access to other dorms routinely for basic functions. We believe that this move is the latest step in a pattern of asserting more and more control over the lives and locations of students, even while students have resoundingly and rightfully demanded that out-of-touch administrators not attempt to micromanage campus life.

In short, we believe that this change would harm the Notre Dame community, and is in direct opposition to the values of community and family that the University of Notre Dame purports to hold close to heart.

We wholeheartedly condemn any move that makes it harder for students to freely navigate about campus, and we hope that this new policy never sees implementation.