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U. changes women’s bathroom codes after publication through GirlCode app

Codes needed to access women’s bathrooms around campus began to be changed on Monday for security reasons, according to University spokesperson Martin Mbugua.

Residential college advisers will inform female students of the new codes over the next few days.

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Mbugua explained that the decision was made after restroom codes were made public, which he said compromised student security.

The publicly available mobile application GirlCode, launched on iTunes by three University students, made the women’sbathroom codes on campus accessible to anyone.

“The safety of our students is our top priority, so University administrators, including the Department of Public Safety and Housing [and Real Estate Services], discussed the issue and decided to change the code,” Mbugua said.

The app was taken down earlier in January after a meeting between administrators and the developers, Victor Zhou ’18, Amanda Shi ’18 and Monica Shi ’18.

Despite ongoing discussions involving administrators and the Undergraduate Student Government about what should be done with the bathroom codes going forward, Mbugua said the University’s immediate priority was to change the restroom codes that were made public through the app. The discussions predate and are not related to the GirlCode app.

Incoming USG President Ella Cheng ’16 said Associate Dean of Undergraduate Students Michael Olin confirmedin a conversation with herthat the change of codes was prompted by their release on GirlCode.

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“I believe this is a reasonable decision,” Cheng said. “There is no restriction to access the app that was launched, so anyone could’ve downloaded it, including non-Princeton students. This creates a safety concern. However, it would be nice if we were kept in the loop about the decision.”

Olin did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

The app was not technologically complex and only took a couple hours to program, Monica Shi said, describing its creation as a learning process, especially in relation to using the Objective-C programming language.

Monica Shi said she was not aware that the bathroom codes had been changed when contacted by a reporter.

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“It is the University's right to make this decision, but they should have informed the student body in advance,” she said.

Monica Shi also said that many of her friends had not learned about the change and would be forced to either use a male restroom or walk through the snowy weather to nonresidential buildings in certain situations.

“I hope that this isn’t the ‘change’ that was promised during our meeting with the administration,” Monica Shi said.

The inspiration for the app arose from inconveniences with which she had coped whenever studying at her sister’s dorm building, Monica Shi said. Eventually, her sister printed out the code and taped it to her binder. She said the situation was “ridiculous” and wished to make restroom access easier for all female students.

Shi added that she believed bathroom codes enforce archaic and institutionalized gender norms.

“Now that Princeton uses a prox system, there is no outside threat, so whom is the University protecting women from?” Shi said. “The silent finger is pointing toward Princeton men, a complication that has extensive psychological ramifications.”