In a campus-wide email on Aug. 7, USC announced it would open all pedestrian campus entrances beginning Aug. 15, as well as opening new customer service tents around the campus. However, certain campus restrictions, such as required identification to enter campus, will continue in the fall semester. 

USC originally announced in a campus-wide email on Aug. 7 that the campus would only keep the McCarthy Way and McClintock Avenue gates open to pedestrians 24/7, while all other pedestrian entrances would be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. only. The University later modified their policy on Aug. 9, stating that all pedestrian entrances would be open 24/7. 

While the University will still be requiring USCards or other identifying information for entry to campus, at certain campus access points, a valid ID or driver’s license will be accepted for entry to campus.

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A new page on the USC website titled “How to Access Campus” designates various entrances as being pedestrian, vehicle-only or hybrid. It also details how new “fast lanes” will work. These fast lanes will allow USCard holders to “tap or swipe” their card to allow for quick access to campus.

The Campus Access policies listed under USC’s official policies were revised on April 4 to include the statement: “access to the University Park Campus (UPC) is restricted to students, faculty, staff, and registered guests between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. daily.”

The University says these “modernized security measures” are in place to make the “USC campus experience as smooth as possible.” 

However, the website also encourages students to “plan ahead and allow for extra time to enter campus.” 

The graduate student workers union has worked with the American Association of University Professors to write an open letter to President Carol Folt, Provost Andrew Guzman and other high-ranking administration leaders protesting these campus access policies. It was co-nsigned by multiple other workers unions and has amassed over 1,200 signatures from faculty, workers, and graduate students, including a “majority” of graduate student workers, and 200 faculty members. 

The letter states USC’s ongoing ID restrictions are “unequally enforced,” and refers to these new security measures as “draconian and expensive.” It also says that private, and sometimes armed, security forces around campus “contribute to a broad feeling of unease and unsafety among faculty, staff, and students.” It ends with a statement directed specifically toward Guzman and Folt to “tear down this Trojan Wall.”

Anna Weiss, the vice president of the graduate workers’ union, said this change was announced on the last day that the letter was open for signatures.  

“While we’re really happy that USC was paying attention to the petition … we’re still concerned, especially because we’ve heard a lot of reports of discrimination and racial profiling and harassment at these entry points,” Weiss said. 

Disagreements over campus access resulted in the graduate worker’s union filing an Unfair Labor Practice charge in April. The charge accuses the university of violating sections 8(a)(1) and 8(a)(5) of the National Labor Relations Act. These provisions prevent employers from making changes in working conditions without first bargaining in good faith with the union, and prevent employers from interfering with employees engaging in “concerted activities.”

“USC unilaterally changed our condition, our access to our worksite,” Weiss said.“[This] change … was a violation of our rights.”

Brandon Walsh, a graduate student studying cinematic arts, film and television production, cycles to and from school. He said restrictions on entrances made the campus more dangerous for commuters and students with evening classes.

“I’ve always heard from campus administration that this is all in the interest of public safety, when I’ve felt significantly less safe as a cyclist trying to get to campus,” Walsh said. “It’s difficult for me to accept a campus policy that prioritizes private property over public safety.” 

Marisa Kennedy, an incoming graduate student in cinema and media studies, said campus access restrictions were difficult to deal with as she did not yet have a USCard. 

She also said these restrictions impacted how she felt about USC’s overall environment.

“Before it was ‘I’m so excited to go to the best school for cinema and media studies,’” Kennedy said. “And now it’s, ‘I’m excited to go to the best school for cinema and media studies, but I’m not excited about how they’re treating their students.’” 

In an email obtained by the Daily Trojan that was sent to members of the graduate student worker’s union, the union referred to the new pedestrian entrances as “good news,” but they are not fully satisfied with the changes made. 

“We will continue to work together to fight for a return to an efficient, welcoming, and open campus,” the email read.