Erin Choi

Campus North Dormitories as seen on September 18, 2023.

Students living in dorms are now required to register their visitors online, according to a revised guest policy announced by Housing and Residence Life (HRL) in an email to students on September 25.

Starting after O-Week, residents must register guests—including UChicago students visiting from other dorms—in the housing portal before signing them into residence halls. Hosts must provide each guest’s first and last name, phone number, and email address, as well as estimated arrival and departure times.

After a student completes the registration form, both the host and the guest will receive a guest pass by email, which must be shown to HRL staff upon request. Hosts must check guests in and out at residence hall entrances. Dorm residents will remain limited to two guests at a time, consistent with the previous guest policy.

A template email urging HRL to reverse the change circulated among students following the announcement of the new policy. It is unclear how many students have sent the letter.

HRL said in the original email that the registration process would ask for each guest’s gender and birth date, as well as a photograph of the guest. Those requirements were later removed in an effort to simplify the registration process and prioritize “flexibility and privacy” in response to students’ concerns, HRL said in a September 28 email to students prior to the new policy going into effect.

A University spokesperson declined to provide a statement, instead directing the Maroon to the second email from HRL.

“While the previous ‘tap-in’ process seemed simple, it lacked the technology to fully manage guest entries,” HRL wrote in the second email. “Desk clerks were required to manually log information into a spreadsheet, which was time-consuming and diverted their attention from providing service and monitoring building access. The updated process leverages improved technology that automates the guest entry process, enhancing efficiency while allowing desk staff to focus on their primary responsibilities of supporting residents and maintaining a secure environment.”

The September 28 email also said that a “Guest Summary” feature in the housing portal would allow students to reregister guests whom they had previously hosted without entering their information again.

Undergraduate Student Government (USG) president Elijah Jenkins said that he opposed the change.

“Over the past year, we’ve been actively advocating for reduced restrictions in housing, so this development came as a surprise,” he wrote in an email to the Maroon. “We are currently in the process of coordinating a meeting with Housing to understand the reasons behind these policy changes made over the summer. Once we have more information, we will update the student body through our official Instagram page. In the meantime, we encourage students to continue voicing their concerns by reaching out directly to the administration.”