For years, every IU student who wanted to unlock their dorm door, eat at a dining hall or print papers for class used a wallet-sized CrimsonCard to do so. But now, IU’s identification card is transitioning to become completely online. Freshmen are no longer automatically issued physical cards and the digital CrimsonCard is now IU's default form of ID, according to an IU Today article.
Only one card, digital or physical, can be active at a time, and students who want a physical card must pay $35. IU says the swap to digital will “improve the overall campus experience,” according to IU Today.
Students had a range of reactions to the change, with some praising the card’s convenience and others criticizing the overreliance on technology.
“I don’t really like having to bring my phone everywhere with me,” freshman Natalie Melnik said. “I think it’s kind of gross because I have to take my phone to the bathroom every single time.”
During the first week of school, Melnik’s digital card wasn’t working, so she was issued a temporary physical card. She preferred the physical to digital.
“I wish we could have both,” she said.
Freshman Lauren Clay had similar concerns.
“I never took my phone (to the bathroom) but now I have to because the card is on my phone,” she said. “So, it’s like, ‘alright well I have to find a spot to place it in the bathroom.’”
Others felt the positives of the digital card outweighed the downsides.
“It’s just convenient because everyone’s carrying their phone all the time,” sophomore Amitab Kumar said.
Sophomore Ria Jakhete recalled locking herself out of her dorm several times freshman year, a scenario she thinks would have been less common with the digital card.
“You always have your phone on you,” she said. “You don’t always have your wallet with the card.”
Freshman Gwendolyn Schwartz noted that sometimes it takes multiple tries to get her digital card to scan, which she thinks would be less of a problem with a physical card. She agreed, though, that it’s convenient having her card on her phone.
“I’d say I’m more likely to carry my phone with me than some random card,” she said.
To Schwartz, the switch was almost inevitable in an increasingly digital world.
“I don’t want to be attached to my phone,” she said. “But I kind of need it now more than ever.”
