Quad To See ATM Installed in SOCH Next September

The Quad will likely see an ATM installed at the Student Organization Center at Hilles by next September, the result of a year and a half of advocacy by the Undergraduate Council to improve safety and student life in the Quad.

According to tentative plans, an ATM run by the Harvard University Employees Credit Union will be installed in the SOCH over the summer, said Senan Ebrahim ’12, chair of the UC Student Life Committee.

Plans for the ATM have yet to be finalized, and among the details to be settled is the per-transaction service fee that HUECU plans to charge non-members for use of the machine, a common practice at ATMs. Ebrahim said that the fee is currently set to be $1.75 but added that in final talks the SLC will seek to reduce or eliminate it.

HUECU Vice President of Marketing Thomas Montilli and retail sales manager Marilyn J. Gambardella could not be reached for comment.

Placing an ATM in the Quad has long been a goal of the UC, especially for former UC presidential candidate George J. J. Hayward ’11, a Currier House resident who has sought to provide Quadlings with equal access to amenities available near the River Houses, such as ATMs and cell phone reception.

But the UC faced several challenges along the way, including identifying a bank that would be willing to install an ATM and undergoing a security review by the administration and the Harvard University Police Department to ensure the safety of putting an ATM in the Quad.

Hayward, an inactive Crimson editor, called the installation “a project that students really want in the Quad.”

“When I ran for the UC, I was very interested in enhancing Quad security, and I’m very glad that before I graduate I can see these projects come to fruition,” he said.