Celebrating 15 Years: WesCards as Door Keys

Fifteen years ago this week, The Argus published some exciting news: WesCards would no longer be used only for meals. The Wesleyan ID card would soon, or at least the following year, go above and beyond the call of duty: it would serve as a key to open building doors around campus. The WesCard was, as many suspected, a goddamn marvel of modern science.

Meredith Orren, News Editor as of September, 1995 (and author of a hilarious April, 1996 Argus article about the boundless thrills of the interwebs—read it if you missed it the second time around), reports:

Under the new system, there will be slots outside building doors through which students can run their ID cards. The cards will serve as an outside door key while continuing to function as a meal plan card, [then Director of Public Safety Harry C.] Kinne said. The new system will also include a local alarm which will sound if a door does not shut securely behind someone.

Kinne, mastermind behind the project, also labeled it “the third stage of the current Telecommunications Project.” Phase One: Outdoor blue-light campus phones. Phase Two? Slightly more relevant to your daily life in 2010: “the installation of the internet and computer programs in dorms.” Next time you use your WesCard to get into a campus building, stop and thank Harry C. Kinne. Seriously—say, “Thank you, Mr. Kinne.” After twenty years at Wes (titles included Director of Public Safety, Dean of Student Services, and Director of Facilities Operations), Kinne moved on to serve as Director of Safety and Security at Dartmouth.

Read the whole article here (Argus, September 27, 1995). This feature has been brought to you by the Wesleying Historical Society of Wesleyan University. More nifty treasures coming soon. Now you know.