Yale hopes to thwart tampering with new ID plan

PATRICK MCGARVEY/YH

It's easy to fake a Yale ID, and Yale knows it. Soon, though, it may get a lot harder; by next year, the magnetic prox cards will have a different look.

"Some students have found ways to change the birthdate on the ID card by lifting or dissolving the plastic, removing the print, and replacing it with a different date [to pass themselves off as 21]," Ernst Huff, director of student financial and administrative services, acknowledged. "[The card] will definitely be changed prior to the next academic year--possibly even sooner."

"Not only the University Police, but New Haven Police as well are now examining ID cards in closer detail than previously," James Perrotti, acting University Police Chief, said. "Already, since the beginning of September, we have confiscated 10 or 12 [altered] Yale ID cards from students trying to gain admittance to establishments that require you to be 21 years of age. This definitely marks an increase since last year."

Currently, enforcement of the rule against phony Yale IDs has been random. "If a student presents a suspicious-looking ID card to us, we will certainly report the matter to the Executive Committee (Ex Comm), but we don't actively try to find students who have tampered with their IDs," ID Center Director Jill Carlton said.

One anonymous junior reports that when she went to Associated Student Agencies in Hendrie Hall to get her card encoded for laundry service, the attendant told her there was something wrong with her card, and that she should take it to the ID center for a replacement. But when the student presented the card to the ID center worker, he reportedly ripped off the lamination and peeled off the date of birth numbers. "Another Yale student bites the dust," he allegedly said. "Two have already been expelled this year. You'll be hearing from me."

The student then received a phone call from her Dean's Office and a letter from the Ex Comm. She faces a hearing in October.

And the penalty for falsifying a University ID is severe. "It is a violation of Yale College regulations to falsify any documents," Dean of Student Affairs Betty Trachtenberg confirmed. Undergraduates in possession of fake IDs could face anything from a reprimand to expulsion. "Not only does altering a Yale ID go against Yale policy, but misrepresenting yourself and your age in a bar is certainly in violation of state law," Associate Dean Mark Landeryou added.

Before 1996, when Yale began printing undergraduates' birthdates on their prox cards, Yale issued "drinking cards" to 21-year-old students. "The University's heart was in the right place, wanting to help students who didn't have other forms of ID," Huff said. But not only were the cards often falsified, they were also expensive for the University to provide, so when Prox Cards came, the birthdate was included on them.

However, tampering has forced the administration to reconsider. "Is the University in the business of providing identification that allows students to enter bars?" Huff asked. "Many other schools have come to the conclusion that it's not a university's responsibility to provide proof of age, and have not included the birthdate on their student IDs."

Removing the birthdate may well be Yale's next move. "This would not necessarily resolve the problem of students drinking underage, but it would resolve the issue of falsification of Yale IDs," Ex Comm head Jill Cutler said.

"I'm inclined to say we should take [the birthdate] off altogether," Huff agreed. Other possibilities include using a more durable laminate which could not be dissolved or integrating a hologram into the ID's design.

But some students may have already learned their lesson. "The University may just be trying to scare us, but it has worked," one anonymous student, who will go before Ex Comm next month, said. "I know that I will never again use a fake ID, and none of my friends will either after seeing what I have to go through. It just isn't worth it."

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