GirlCode app developers Victor Zhou ’18 and twin sisters Amanda and Monica Shi ’18 said this week that they will be taking down the app due to “pressure from the administration.” They recently launched the app on the iTunes Store that makes the codes for women’s bathrooms in University residential spaces accessible to anyone who downloaded the app.
The app had been taken down as of Sunday.
The creators said that the decision to shut down the app was made during a private meeting on Wednesday with three representatives from the Department of Public Safety, Housing and Real Estate Services and the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students. Amanda Shi said that the administrators were worried about safety concerns students were bringing up.
“We didn’t want to test how far it’d go. They asked multiple times for us to take [the app] down,” Monica Shi added. She explained that the developers unsuccessfully attempted to defend their view on why there should be no bathroom codes.
“Before we could defend the app or no locks on the bathroom, they just started this whole spiel,” she added.
Associate Dean of Undergraduate Students Michael Olin, who was present during the private meeting, explained that they held the conversation about the app due to interests in student security.
“As the app currently stands, anyone with access to Internet can download the app and have access to the bathroom codes and, in our view, that poses considerable security risks for students,” Olin said.
Amanda Shi said that the impression they received from the meeting was that there would be either no bathroom codes or bathroom codes for both genders.
“Even though people say it’s going to be a student decision, it felt really decided,” she added.
Shi added that Undergraduate Student Government president-elect Ella Cheng ’16 had contacted them regarding the app and bathroom code policy.
The creators said they originally made the app in order to spark dialogue and reform regarding bathroom code policies.
“It wasn’t because of our app that the administration is talking right now; they’ve been talking way before our apps,” Shi said. “In six months, either every single bathroom is going to have locks or no locks,” she added.
Shi said their post was meant as a warning to take the bathroom policy discussions seriously.
Zhou said that response bias in the bathroom poll is an issue, as is the number of responders.
“For me personally, I was like ‘Ehh, I’m not going to take this,’ ” he said. “I know especially a lot of guys — all of the guys I talked to — either didn’t hear about the survey, didn’t see it. I’m sure if they knew what was on the line they would have answered. I think it’s safe to say that a majority of men don’t want locks on restrooms.”
The team recommended the poll be conducted again to target the entire student body and include the genders of respondents.
Olin said that no decision has been made regarding bathroom code policies.
“I believe student leadership is working on gathering more information and opinions from students, and then they’ll come back together to meet with key members of the administration, and I’m sure we’ll reach a solution that addresses gender equity as well as security — both of which are important,” he said.
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