Duo Security is the worst thing Hofstra University has implemented in the last calendar year, and that is saying something – we have all seen the new Hofstra logo.

The number of times I have been made to look a fool in class because I have to pull out my phone to log into Duo is uncountable, and yet it has not even been in place for a full year. Not only does it make me feel like a jerk for pulling out my phone in academic settings, but it is also just plain annoying.

I would love to hear the very good reason the university has to make my school account more secure than my bank account. Even if someone were to break into my account, what would they do? Change my major? Register me for classes? Obviously, I do not want this to happen, but it was unlikely to happen even before Duo.

Imagine this: you have a class on the third floor of Calkins Hall, and you need to sign in using Duo. Congratulations, you have to either leave the building because there is no cell signal to send you a code or you’ll have to deal with not having a computer for your class. Again, who exactly is this system helping?

The fact that you have to sign in using Duo multiple times in a given week is preposterous. If I sign in once and click “Yes, this is my device,” why do I have to do it again a few days later? Why did you even ask if it was my device if you were going to sign me out anyway?

The only thing Duo secures is the biweekly groan it gets from me and my peers when it decides to pop up on our screens to waste our time.