London’s Western University is hoping to add a layer of safety and increase a sense of community with its newly launched identification system.
The system will provide Western-branded lanyards and hard plastic Western ONECard holders to every main campus student, employee, and visitor, the university said in a statement posted on its website.
The lanyards have no connection to vaccination status, it states.
“We wanted to create a visual way to help identify who is on our campus at any given time, including visitors to campus,” said Sarah Prichard, the acting provost and vice-president of academic.
Student lanyards will be distributed on campus starting Monday Nov. 8.
In addition, the university is introducing a visitor ID system starting Jan. 2022.
Visitors will register through an online portal and be provided with black “Campus Visitor” lanyards and large visitor identification badges.
“We know anything new like this will take some time to take hold,” said Prichard. “We’re strongly encouraging everyone to pick up their lanyards and wear them. The more people that wear them, the stronger the program.”
The university says it plans to continue the system as part of its ongoing safety program, even after the COVID-19 pandemic.