Updated Feb. 7 at 12:50 a.m.
AU staff enabled the card readers for McDowell's elevators today. Residents will again need to swipe their AUID in order to operate them.
Staff were supposed to re-enable the card readers after winter break did not until Feb. 6.
Original Feb. 4 story below
Vandals burned a McDowell Hall elevator card reader Jan. 30 in a case Public Safety is calling “a malicious burning,” according to a Department of Public Safety Crime Alert.
There is no suspect at this point, and there were no injuries.
There was no damage to the reader itself. Only the cover was charred, according to McDowell Hall Resident Director Matt Lebrasseur.
University Police responded to an emergency phone call on Monday night. They then notified the D.C. Fire Investigator.
This is not the first time vandals have targeted these card readers, which enable the elevators in McDowell in a new “double-barrier” system. Three were ripped out last semester, The Eagle previously reported.
The card readers in the elevators were turned off over the break to facilitate the insulation replacement, but Housing and Dining and Public Safety have not turned them back on, Lebrasseur said.
Housing and Dining is considering replacement card readers that will be sturdier and less prone to vandalism, Lebrasseur said.
“We’re trying to find something that will work with what we have, and we’re trying to find the best solution that we can manage,” he said.
zcohen@theeagleonline.com
