Walking home after dark shouldn’t feel like a risk — for many women on college campuses, it still does. Universities love to advertise their commitments to equity and student well–being, but when those opportunities involve being on campus after dark, some have to choose possible opportunities over safety. What remains is a familiar reality: women modifying their routines, gripping their keys and sharing locations.
At the University of Oregon, students feel that gap every day. Kat Newgard, a junior marine biology major, described how a man repeatedly approached her near her home. “I was walking to work, and he came up to me and I felt freaked out because of what had happened,” she said. “I don’t know if I would call it harassment — he’s just been hanging around my house, but it’s scary.”
As women, we tend to downplay fear, rationalize danger and avoid being “dramatic.” But fear shouldn’t require an actualized threat of harm to be considered valid. When women feel unsafe, behaviors and actions change: skipping campus evening events, avoiding certain routes or missing opportunities that require walking alone. These self–protective choices aren’t irrational; they’re learned responses for women in a risky environment.
This issue contributes to another glaring problem: when women’s movement is restricted by fear, men’s freedom expands by default. If women are less able to fully participate in campus social life, then the imbalance becomes self–reinforcing, making safety a gendered privilege.
Zaya Smith, a first-year journalism major said, “I used to run at night by Autzen Stadium but I had a scary interaction with a man in a creepy mask. I ran away and haven’t run at night since.” Most women have scary experiences like this near campus — they occur so often they’re often forgotten about, overlooked or ignored.
Thankfully, daylight saving time solves some of these issues with the sun setting significantly later, pushing back this unspoken curfew a little longer.
Universities often respond to incidents with statements, task forces or one–time fixes. But security is more than a press release or safety alert; it involves changes to standardized procedures, accountability and psychological safety culture. And right now, too many campuses are failing on all three.
UO has a free evening shuttle for all university students, staff and faculty called Duck Rides. Duck Rides’ purpose is to ensure safety, accessibility and reduce nighttime travel risks from 6 p.m. to 12 a.m. via scheduled rides that are scheduled in the app. As resourceful as Duck Rides is, many students don’t know how to access it or aren’t aware of it. The wait times can also deter students from choosing the safer option because the potentially dangerous walk is more convenient than waiting an hour for a free ride.
There are some easy solutions to this problem: better lighting, more cameras, reliable nighttime transportation, regular safety audits that actually include women’s voices and training for security staff that centers gender sensitivity, survivor support and complaint systems (that are transparent, timely and confidential). The implementation of these solutions would require compliance from UO campus safety and administration. If UO took these steps, it may inspire other universities to follow suit, placing a higher expectation on campus safety norms.
Women shouldn’t have to shrink their lives to fit the limits of campus safety. It’s an institution’s responsibility to ensure gender equality in every form — including safety.
