Housing Security

The College's student housing program is designed to promote a safe and secure environment for residents.  Doors to all residence halls are locked 24-hours a day.  Entrance is gained by using the Otterbein College Cardinal Card readers.  To ensure the safety of residents, there are procedures for replacing lost room keys and accidental lockouts.  A Resident Adviser (RA) is on duty every night in each residence hall from 9 p.m. to midnight.  A Hall Director (HD) is also on duty every night.

At Otterbein College, access into the College residence halls is restricted to student residents, escorted guests and authorized College personnel.  Unescorted persons are not permitted in the residence halls.  Visitation hours are from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. every day.  Students may have escorted guests in their rooms during these hours.   Residence hall occupants have the option of further restriction of visitation hours within their individual residence halls. 

There are four residential fraternities and six residential sororities, with one fraternity and four sorority buildings owned by the College.  The organizational alumni or private landlords own the other Greek houses.

In addition, many students live in privately owned apartments or housing within a twenty-five mile radius of the campus.  Crime prevention programs that emphasize security and safety procedures for residents, in addition to all other crime prevention programs, are provided upon request for students who reside in off-campus housing.

Residents of College-recognized Greek houses are responsible for the security of their own houses.  Greek houses are similar to privately owned homes.  Therefore, residents should take responsibility for following safety procedures to protect themselves.  The Otterbein College Security Department does not maintain key control or key distribution for any of the houses, nor does the Otterbein College Security Department check to see if doors are secured.  Security Officers only conduct visual observations of these properties.