The discrimination issues that have hounded Project Saferide for more than a year can finally be put to rest. The wait for a co-ed shuttle service has been arduous, and the new transportation service for men and women
— called Night Ride — will have to prove its worth after such a long battle.
Saferide is an important service to the University and women on campus. Time and again, the sexual assault prevention service has proved its worth. In fact, the project is so popular, it is often difficult for female students to get a ride. However, many male students have safety concerns similar to those of women and should have had a service available long before a gender discrimination complaint was filed against Saferide last year.
The complaint, filed by an anonymous University student, claimed the University was in direct violation of Title IX of the Education Acts of 1972 because Saferide prohibits men from driving or riding in its vans. After much debate, the new coed service, Night Ride, is slated to be implemented as early as this summer, according to Saferide co-director Nikki Fancher.
The new service is a good idea, but time will tell if Saferide’s naysayers will utilize Night Ride after so much discussion. Male students have complained in the past that they pay student fees for a Saferide service they can’t use. Will the alternative silence the criticism? Or has the criticism been more about paying fees than hitching a ride? All that will depend on the frequency of male riders.
Students who were denied service by Saferide in years past can take solace in the knowledge that their transportation alternative is coming. It has been a long time in the making, but Night Ride should solve the gender discrimination problems surrounding Saferide by creating a separate, but equal, alternative.
ASUO has the ‘ride’ solution
Daily Emerald
January 14, 2002
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