Harvard To Require HUID Access For All FAS Buildings Starting Thursday

Harvard will restrict access to all Faculty of Arts and Sciences buildings to Harvard ID holders beginning Thursday morning, advancing the usual timeline for winter recess building closures, according to a Wednesday evening email sent to Harvard affiliates.

The change — announced by FAS Campus Operations Chief Zak M. Gingo ’98 — will take effect at 8 a.m. Thursday. FAS buildings typically begin requiring ID swipe access on the first day of winter recess, which is scheduled to start Dec. 20 this year.

The announcement, which comes days after a fatal shooting at Brown University, will move the access restrictions two days earlier than expected.

Gingo emphasized that the move is precautionary and does not reflect any known threat to Harvard’s campus.

“There is no indication indicating a credible threat to our campus,” Gingo wrote in the email, adding that Harvard University Police Department officers and Securitas security personnel will continue to monitor campus buildings “out of an abundance of caution.”

Security guards will also remain stationed at the main entrances of buildings where final exams are taking place to facilitate safe and efficient entry for students, according to the message.

The same measures will be taken at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, according to an email sent to school affliates by SEAS Interim Dean for Academic Programs Rebecca M. Ginzburg.

The announcement follows a fatal shooting at Brown University over the weekend, in which a masked gunman entered a lecture hall, killing two students and leaving at least nine others hospitalized.

Police have not yet apprehended a suspect but released “enhanced” footage of a person of interest Tuesday. A person initially detained in connection with the shooting was released later Sunday night.

In response to the incident at Brown, HUPD stepped up patrols and restricted access to the Smith Campus Center and Science Center to Harvard affiliates on Sunday.

Peer institutions also upped security in the aftermath of the shooting. Columbia University reinstated ID swipe access to campus buildings and implemented additional building checks, while Yale University adopted similar measures over the weekend.

Harvard students and faculty have responded to the recent violence — including another shooting in Sydney, Australia early Sunday morning — with an outpouring of grief. More than 50 Harvard affiliates gathered for a vigil on the steps of Memorial Church Sunday evening, and another vigil, coordinated across the Ivy League campuses, took place earlier Wednesday.

Harvard deliberately increased security around the Sunday vigil, Dunne said in a Sunday interview with The Crimson, opting to station three HUPD vehicles around the crowd.

Final exams at Harvard are set to end Dec. 19.

—Staff writer Amann S. Mahajan can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on X @amannmahajan.