Upcoming changes to building access

To the members of the MIT community,

In August, we wrote to you about our plans to engage the community as we developed MIT’s approach to building access for the spring semester and beyond. We highlighted our dual commitments to access and to the safety of all members of our community, as well as our desire to keep MIT’s values at the forefront of our planning and decision-making.

Last month, we collected your feedback through a building access survey. The survey presented three scenarios to respondents: maintaining the current restrictions on building access, reverting to the pre-Covid approach to building access, or opening certain buildings during daytime hours. We learned that members of our community place different priorities on campus safety, ease of access, and a welcoming environment for visitors, and that any successful solution must balance all of these values. The survey results are available here.

Building access updates

Given this community input, we plan to expand the number of buildings that are open to the general public. This includes restoring public access to the libraries and the Main Group of campus buildings, including Lobby 7 and the Infinite Corridor. Specifically, effective Thursday, December 1, the Institute will:

• Open many buildings to the public on weekdays during the day without requiring an MIT ID or Tim Ticket, as indicated by the orange dots on this map.
• Open other buildings to the public during stated public access hours, without requiring an MIT ID or Tim Ticket, as indicated by the blue dots on this map.
• Open the turnstiles in Lobby 7 to ease access to the Infinite Corridor, with the intent to remove them at the end of this semester.

See additional details on these building access changes.

In the coming weeks, we will launch a working group charged with assessing potential security enhancements in the Main Group and along the Infinite Corridor.

Thank you for your ongoing engagement on this important community issue.

Sincerely,

Cynthia Barnhart, Provost

Glen Shor, Executive Vice President and Treasurer