Liberty University, a private university in Central Virginia, provides a comprehensive curriculum with a Christian background for more than 110,000 students enrolled across the University’s 17 colleges, schools and online programs. The safety and security of students and faculty is a priority and has resulted in the implementation of state-of-the-art physical security measures.

The LaHaye Fitness and Recreation Center located on Liberty University’s Lynchburg campus is a prime example. The large facility, which occupies approximately 165,000 square feet, houses five basketball courts, an indoor track, a weight room, group exercise classrooms, raquetball and volleyball courts, soccer fields and a rock wall, in addition to a lounge and cafe. More than just an athletics facility, the LaHaye Fitness and Recreation Center is a hub for social interaction that opens at 5am and closes at 11:30pm every day.

Every student enrolled at Liberty University is provided with an identification badge with embedded access control credentials to gain access to various Liberty facilities. The access control solution, provided by RS2, allows students to use one universal card throughout the campus, including LaHaye Fitness and Recreation Center, which is outfitted with four lanes of Speedlane 300 optical turnstiles from Boon Edam to control and document the approximately 30,000 users who enter the facility every week.

Previously, Liberty students would simply hand their badge to a staff worker, who would swipe it for verification, and then allow the student into the facility. The old process presented numerous challenges including the inability to adequately deny entry, expedite entry to the gym during busy hours and more. The new array of Speedlane 300 turnstiles alleviates all of those issues and more by providing three dedicated lanes for entry and one lane for egress.

“We can lock the turnstile gates, disable them, hold them open, grant access along with numerous other operational options, to keep traffic flowing while providing security,” says Samuel Seaborn, Associate Director, Operations, at Liberty University. “The turnstiles integrate with Liberty’s access control system to monitor who is coming into the rec center and when, and helps ensure that only students and people with proper access are allowed into the facility.”

With 30,000 average weekly users entering and exiting the facility, Liberty is already looking to expand the LaHaye Fitness and Recreation Center with satellite facilities located around the campus. To maintain the level of safety throughout their campus, protect the university from liability issues, and integrate with their current access control systems, Liberty hopes to outfit any new installations with Boon Edam turnstiles, which have been well received by students and staff.

“When they were installed, the students remarked on the futuristic design of the turnstiles,” continues Seaborn. “Everyone adapted to them quickly, because they’re so easy to use.”

Liberty has also been happy with the service Boon Edam provides for maintenance and other issues. If there are any issues with the badge reader or if an internal component was malfunctioning, the integrator for Boon Edam products, Jamie Dalton at Mech-Elect, of Wake Forest, NC, has responded quickly.

“The Boon Edam turnstiles are so simple to use, and they really help with traffic flow. In today’s environment, we’re even more concerned with properly protecting our students, and Boon Edam turnstiles help us do that,” concludes Seaborn. “When we expand our recreational facilities, as well as other facilities, we’re definitely looking to Boon Edam for our entrances and exits.”

Case study provided by Boon Edam