Whoever keeps locking the back gate needs to stop

The back gate, the magic portal between campus and the station, town and student houses, is closed at night, leaving us unable to get onto campus quickly, and it’s a serious issue.

why?

If the library is open 24 hours five days a week (13 and a half hours the other two days a week), and the SU shuts at 3am on Wednesdays and Fridays, surely the back gate should be open all night? Instead, it’s only open until 11.15 Sunday-Thursday and until 00.45 Friday-Saturday. 

Has nobody heard of an all-nighter? How are we meant to get home? On SU nights you can take the Shh bus, but who wants to be waiting around for an hour? People who live between the back gate and Egham town have to take a half hour hike up and down Egham hill (which is no more safer than the steps by the back gate), instead of a fifteen minute trek via the steps.

The rules

Why are we being denied access to campus? I didn’t realise we were still five.

If it’s for “security reasons”, it doesn’t make much sense, seeing as the side gate and front entrance are open 24/7. Anyone can get on and off campus via those entrances so why can’t we get on and off campus through the back gate?

There are only two ways around this atrocity.

1. Climb. Luckily, Royal Holloway has been blessed with geniuses who manage to cut the wire next to the gate every time it is fixed so we can walk through a weird field and playground to access the lower parts of Egham and campus.

Mind the gap

Unfortunately, those geniuses cut the wire only for very tall people, so you have to be careful you don’t cut your crotch when climbing over. It’s only an option for the very brave and adventurous.

2. Suck it up and go the long way. Not only for the brave and adventurous, but also the hungry. The M&S at the petrol station is the only upside to having to walk the long way. You can pick up food on your way home, making the journey more tolerable.

It doesn’t have to be like this though. Maybe we could install an electric gate that opens with college cards. It would probably cost the same as it costs to replace the wire fence every week, as well as what it would cost to repair our dignity and our clothes. We are paying nine grand after all.

what it should look like 24/7