Written by Oma Seddiq. Photo from http://www.volleyball.qa/
A recent change to Qatar Foundation’s open campus policy has made it harder for community members and visitors to enter and exit Education City at night. The main gates are now closed at 6 p.m. everyday, instead of 10 p.m.
The change came as a result of motorists taking shortcuts on campus and not giving their identification cards to the security guards at the gates during rush hour, said Michael McDonough, director of health, safety, security and environment at Northwestern University in Qatar.
Not everyone, however, is pleased.
Isabella Palma Lopez, a freshman at NU-Q, is a non-residential student who had ordered an Uber taxi driver at 10:45 p.m. last Wednesday to get home. When it arrived, the driver phoned Lopez and said that he was not allowed inside. She requested to speak to the security guard, who refused to take the call.
“I had to walk from the dorms to the gate alone in the middle of the night,” said Lopez. “The security did not let my driver through to pick me up.”
According to Abdulla Fakhroo, director of QF security, taxi drivers entering Education City after 6 p.m. need to have the name of the person they are picking up and the location. They must also leave their identification card at the gate in exchange for a temporary visitor’s pass, he said.
“My driver gave them his I.D. and they still did not let him in,” Lopez said. “They were rude and made me walk all the way to the gate while it was freezing.”
Gordon Cation, the health, safety, security, and environment security supervisor, said the procedures for community members and visitors entering and exiting Education City have not changed, only the barrier timings have.
“From 6 p.m. onwards, guests must surrender their I.D. to security in exchange for a visitor pass and community members are asked to show their I.D. to security,” Cation said.
“Those with Vehicle Access Tags, available to community members only, are able to freely enter and exit anytime without screening,” he explained.
But students say the procedures are confusing and not being properly followed.
Yassine Ouahrani, a freshman at NU-Q, said the security guards now ask him more questions and are stricter at the gate when he wants to enter Education City after 6 p.m. He was first stopped on the night of February 4th, a day after the changes were implemented.
“I don’t know where to get it,” Ouahrani said, referring to the Vehicle Access Tag. He said the security guards at the gate had not informed him.
“They hesitated on letting me in,” Ouahrani added. He said the security guards took his I.D. and gave him a temporary visitor’s pass in order to enter. But according to Cation, any student without a Vehicle Access Tag is only required to show his or her university I.D. to the security guards at the gate.
“We are facing a lot of issues about the gates,” Cation said. “Not with NU-Q but also from other colleges,” he added.
Heidi Rashad, a freshman student at Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar and a resident at the female dormitories, faced difficulty entering Education City on the night the change was implemented.
“Two other students and I were in my driver’s car and wanted to go to dorms, but we weren’t being let through the gate,” Rashad said. “It was only 6:30 p.m. The security told us to get letters from our universities in order to enter and exit Education City next time,” she said.
“We were escorted by a security car to the dorms,” Rashad added. “He said I would only be allowed to enter tonight.”
“Sounds like they’re making up the rules as they go along,” McDonough said about the security guards.
Qatar Foundation does have plans to operate an open campus all day in the future, he added. “We’re not going to get a solution now,” McDonough cautioned. “Both sides are going to face issues.”
