The campus safety forum sponsored by the Office of Student Life on April 11 was an important first step in creating an open channel of communication between administrators and students. Students and top administrators converged at the Knight Library with the same mission: To exchange concerns about campus safety. But it was clear many students did not trust how the administration has been conducting itself, and repairing that confidence will be one of the University’s greatest challenges in creating a safer environment.
It was encouraging to see high-level administrators willing to listen to student voices on this issue at the forum. All views were taken into account, and the forum broke off into four groups to discuss sexual assault prevention and response, involvement in campus safety, ongoing communication about safety issues and ways to protect the campus after dark.
Many groups generated some potential solutions to their topics, and now that the initial discussion has concluded, it is time for the University to put some of those ideas into action.
One idea was to create a communication loop for the campus that would allow departments, such as the Department of Public Safety, to send out e-mails to administrators, student groups, campus media and residence hall assistants to keep them updated on campus incidents and safety concerns. It’s an excellent idea: By sharing the same information with everyone at the University, people will have a clear idea of what is happening and what DPS is doing about it.
Administrators from DPS and the Office of Student Life maintain that they want to create a safer campus for everyone. But to achieve this they need to be as forthcoming as possible with their information and prove to students they are acting with our best interests in mind. The idea of the e-mail loop is a good start.
To their credit, DPS implemented a few of its latest safety ideas, such as the Yellowjackets student patrol group and the department’s hotline that gives full information about recent DPS responses. Students can call 346-5692 to hear details.
Now, students need to take the initiative to find out how they can work with the University to combat campus safety problems. The most obvious step is to attend the Campus Community Relations Task Force forum, April 24 at the Heritage Room in the Bowerman Building, to help brainstorm more solutions. The University is making an effort to share its ideas and generate feedback. Students should take advantage of that opportunity, and together we can start rebuilding our relationship.