By Malak Monir

Many students in Education City have been denied access to the campus at night, despite having shown security personnel their required student IDs and vehicle
passes.

Students in EC need to park in Qatar National Convention Center during the day but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be able to get into EC after five in the afternoon if they present their student IDs and vehicle passes, explained Ray Corcoran, the director of facilities management at Northwestern University in Qatar.

“There seems to be some miscommunication with the security guards,” Corcoran said, adding that he would be meeting with the Qatar Foundation Health, Safety, Security, and Environment (QF HSSE) directorate to discuss having a written clarification of the rules.

QF HSSE could not be reached for a comment on the situation.

In the meantime, however, security guards have also stopped students at times when they should have been able to enter campus without being questioned.

“[The security guard] said that no students were allowed on campus. I’m guessing he just misunderstood the part that it was no students allowed before 5,” said Nissryne Dib, a communication junior at NUQ, who already has a student driving pass which should let her into the campus, but was only allowed in EC after obtaining a temporary visitor’s pass.

Similarly, Menna Kamel, another communication junior at NU-Q, was also told that she could not enter with her student vehicle pass one night at 10:30 pm. Kamel showed the guard both her student ID and vehicle pass but was still denied entry. After attempting to enter at two different gates, she was only allowed in after a security gave her a visitor’s pass.

“Why are students not allowed inside while visitors are allowed after this hour? It doesn’t make sense. Priority should (go to) the students,” Kamel said.

Ahmed Shakeeb, a junior at Texas A&M who lives in the student residence halls on campus, was barred from entry as well. Late one night, he was taking a taxi back to EC when the security guards stopped him. They told him that taxis were no longer allowed to enter EC after 10 pm, he said.

“The rules have become stricter,” Shakeeb said. “Even at the start of the semester they didn’t have that rule of no cabs after 10.”

In another incident, Shakeeb was stopped from coming into EC with another student after midnight, because his friend did not have his student ID at the time. A guard at a different gate eventually allowed them in after seeing the vehicle pass. However, he still had them write their names for him for “security reasons.”

There are still no specific rules established that students and security can both refer to.

“Apparently, there’s a new rule that no one can go in after 12 midnight,” said Mayar Hamdan, a communication student at NU-Q. “What am I supposed to do if I’m studying (on campus)? Take a bus (to QNCC) at 12? There are no busses.”

Buses stop transporting students to QNCC at nine in the evening.

“Anyway, I’m a girl. I’m not going to ride in a bus alone after 12,” she added.

Given the different rules security guards implement at different gates, students are confused about the restrictions for being allowed on campus. The rules for entry at night are a “gray area,” which is the result of a misunderstanding among security guards, said NU-Q’s Corcoran.