In 1985, ASUO proposed a shuttle service intended to protect women from potential rape. Today this service is known as Project SafeRide, and is still an alternative for women to walking alone at night. The group’s main concern is making sure women feel safe on campus by offering rides from work or school-related activities while at the same time preventing potential sexual assault situations.
According to SafeRide’s Women Helping Women pamphlet, ASUO conducted a survey among University students in 1985 and found that most women “did not feel safe walking alone at night.” The program was then founded in response to the survey, in order to help make students feel safe on campus.
The SafeRide drivers are all female volunteers, Alexandra Kerl told the Emerald in January 2000. When the program was first started in 1985, there was concern about whether men should be allowed to drive for the shuttle. The eventual decision was that women should provide this service to other women, because the program was meant to protect women from potential rape and to empower them to protect themselves and others, former ASUO state affairs coordinator Debra Kester told the Emerald in 1985.
The original idea behind SafeRide was to “present an alternative for women walking alone on campus,” Kester said. According to its policy book, the group’s mission today is to “provide a free and reliable rape-prevention service to women who would otherwise walk alone at night and risk possible sexual assault.”
The program was established as a campus rape prevention program, so it offers rides only to University students, staff and faculty, and drivers may ask riders to show their University identification, according to SafeRide’s pamphlet.
When the program was being put together, some asked what men could do to prevent rape instead of helping the program by driving. In response, Kester said men’s role in rape prevention is to “help provide the funding necessary for the shuttle service and provide education to others, particularly men, on the myth of rape.”
University junior Michelle Marks said she used SafeRide quite a bit last year as a way to get home from work and University events when the buses were no longer running at night. Marks said she enjoyed her experiences with SafeRide.
“Usually they were very helpful,” Marks said. “The only problem was they did not make many trips to Kinsrow (Road), and I would have to find another way home.”
Today, the program has about 80 volunteer drivers and 7 dispatchers and is able to give safe transportation to an average of 80 women per night, according to its Women Helping Women pamphlet.
According to the Department of Public Safety Web site, the number of forcible sex offenses in the campus area rose from one reported case in 1998 to three reported cases in 2000.
Women interested in using SafeRide are encouraged to make reservations by calling 346-4239. During fall and winter terms, SafeRide operates Sunday through Thursday from 6 p.m. to midnight, and Friday and Saturday from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. During spring term, operation hours are Sunday through Thursday from 7 p.m. to midnight, and Friday and Saturday from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. Summer hours are Sunday through Thursday from 9 p.m. to midnight and Friday and Saturday from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m.
If women are interested in volunteering for SafeRide as drivers, office workers or fundraisers, the group’s members “always welcome more support,” according to their Women Helping Women pamphlet. Those who would like to help should contact volunteer coordinator Brooke Johnson at the SafeRide office at 346-0653.