Array of security features protects athletes, fans at Sanford Coyotes Sports Center

A weight room and basketball court aren’t the only features of the newly opened Sanford Coyotes Sports Center. Installed throughout the building is an array of high-tech security features ranging from cameras to doors that can only be opened with an ID card.

Associate Athletic Director Jeanette Hubert said there’s more security in the building than there is in the DakotaDome.

“This new complex is much more secure,” she said. “We added more security features to this facility, such as keypads, places to swipe ID cards and cameras.”

All outside entrances require a card to be swiped to get in while internal doors, such as locker room doors, have keypads and are locked at all times. Hubert said cameras are located strategically by university police, so all access points are in view of cameras.

Security also increases on game days, according to Hubert.

“We hire UPD for games for security, and we also hire our own staff,” she said.

As a student-athlete that will utilize this new addition’s weight and recovery rooms, sophomore Joseph Reagan said that the security features are important. He also said it was a lot easier to get into the Dome than the new Sports Center.

“We need our IDs to get in, which sometimes can be a pain if I forget to bring it to practice,” Reagan said.

Features such as the new ID access scanners make Reagan feel safer when using the facility.

“I feel safer because only athletes can get into that section of the arena, so there’s no worries about anything there,” Reagan said. “It’s cool that the IDs scan and we can get in that way without having to swipe them.”

Non-athlete students have differing opinions about the new security that was implemented. Sophomore Rachael Severson said there isn’t much of a difference from the Dome from when she attended a volleyball game.

“It didn’t seem like there was much security at all,” Severson said. “We have to swipe our ID cards to get in, but that was about it. There was people standing in the corners and everything but besides that it didn’t seem like a lot.”

Even though the security doesn’t seem super intensive, Severson said she thinks students still feel completely safe with the measures that were implemented.

“I feel completely safe,” Severson said. “I think it has a lot to do with the town of Vermillion as well. If I were at a game in like Minnesota or Chicago or something like that and they had the same security as USD I honestly probably wouldn’t feel very safe, but for Vermillion it is perfect.”