alt Hacker NewsI feel really sad about this -- I was amazed as a child to learn that I was allowed to just... GO IN to buildings and lectures as long as I was quiet and respectful. I always took pride in my university's openness.
Then I took my boyfriend for a tour a couple years ago and found all the buildings had signs warning that access was only permitted with a University ID card. Nobody challenged us or kicked us out, but it was a sour demoralizing shock.
Things were very locked down at the peak of COVID and some of us even semi-officially grumbled a bit to people we knew.
The main public buildings are generally open again during the day at least. I don't go in as much as I used to. (And have ID in any case.) But definitely not as open as it used to be.