Whether it be struggling to find time to study or learning how to live with other people (such as roommates or hall-mates), college is always an adjustment for incoming first-years. This year, however, first-years have a leg up on sophomores, juniors, and seniors alike, having known nothing before the times of Duo Mobile— what upperclassmen might call “the good old days.”

In the Golden Age, students did not have to send a push notification, call or SMS to their phone in order to access Moodle. Since this past July, though, students have had to endure the grueling process of the multi-factor authentication system.

Students have become so fed up that they resorted to an angry protest on the Malesardi Quad this past week, citing Duo as their motivation for change. Many joined in, carrying their signs, phones and computers to display their hate for the newer, safer and more tedious authentication tool, while some took more drastic matters to object.

In order to reduce their contact with inconveniences set forth by Duo, students have turned to three different options: handing in old-fashioned paper copies of work, not handing in their work at all or asking the University for ridiculous ways of authenticating their logins.

“I’ve been refusing to go on Moodle to upload my essay for ‘The Art of Walking,’” Duane Miller ’21 said. “If I have to stand up to get my phone to log in to Moodle or Banner Web one more time, I will never submit another virtual essay again. I’d sooner resort to carrier pigeons!”

Since the system is so new, the prolonged effects on students’ mental health and academic performance have yet to be determined. However, the initial backlash does not seem too promising, especially for those who are more ambivalent in nature. 

“I mean, I can never decide whether to send a push, call my phone or get sent a passcode,” Dana Factor ’22 said. “They’re all equally miserable. Not one of them makes me want to do my work, and it honestly sometimes makes it very hard to push through.”

It is unclear as to exactly how long this anger geared towards Duo will last. The maximum projection is three years, since, in the words of every naive first-year, “Hasn’t this been around forever?”