Sara Wilbur and James Dwyer
The Paw Print
Every year a new batch of freshmen move away from home and onto a college campus. Being away from home for the first time can be scary enough, add not knowing where anything is located or who people are, and the new environment can be extremely threatening. There are many documents printed each year on how to live safely on a college campus that, if followed, can definitely make the transition slightly easier. However, making college campuses a safer place is up to the student.
According to Amanda Farahany’s article “Crime on College Campuses”, there are 35 rapes for every one thousand female students on college campuses every year. In most cases, the rapes are conducted by someone the victim knows personally. They are also most likely to happen within the first few weeks of the freshmen and sophomore years of college. In some cases these crimes can be avoided by following a few simple and easy steps. By practicing smart choices, such as keeping exterior doors locked, knowing surroundings, and getting to know campus personnel, college students can increase campus security.
The end of the first semester of living in the Girault dorms was not the best bet for female students. One morning, a young college student was completing her daily routine of taking a shower and getting prepped for the day’s activities. While in the shower, she felt the touch of a hand on her shoulder. Startled, she jumped and turned to find an older male reaching for her. Frightened by her spotting him, the man fled out of the building before anyone could catch him. The man had been reported many times for this offense, but was able to enter the building and the restrooms on many occasions. He was repeatedly entering and exiting the building through the rear door that had been left propped open by students who didn’t want to walk all the way around the building to get back inside, because of the lack of key swipe on the outside door.
Along with having unwelcome visitors, accounts of thefts were accrued in other buildings on the college campus. The thieves were also entering through propped doors. To the people that were committing these crimes, the propped open doors served as an open invitation. While students and parents think that living on campus is safe, propping open doors creates an unsafe setting for the residents. On the top five safety tips for college students on how to stay safe on a college campus is to keep doors locked. By taking the time to do something as simple as shutting doors, students are making their residency a safer place to be. Closed doors cut off any invitation for intruders to come in. If students can follow this simple rule of thumb, they can create a better and more comfortable atmosphere for themselves.
While students are starting to meet new people and adjusting to the college life, they need to learn about their new environment. As students move around campus, rushing from class to class, they need to take the time to get used to everything around them. These things include emergency poles, which are used to call the police directly and record what is happening, well-lit areas to walk in at night, fire alarms, and extinguishers. These objects are not hard to find either, but often students walk by them every day without realizing where they are. Ways to get to know these locations include heading to class earlier, taking the time to just look things over, and asking staff members or other students. Just doing these simple things will help students to feel safer, and in the event of an emergency, they will be more aware of their surroundings.
The campus staff is normally the last people that a new student wants to get to know. But getting to know the staff is very beneficial to a student. This doesn’t mean that a student needs to go to every professor’s door and introduce themselves, but there are some people that you do need to know. These people include resident assistants, campus police, and teachers. Knowing these people is beneficial because if students need help, whether for an emergency or with homework, they are there to help and will do so to the best of their ability. So even though students may be intimidated by these people at first, knowing them will help improve the experience of living on campus.
Now that a year has passed, there are another handful of college students that have been able to learn the positive and the negative sides of living on a college campus and living away from home for the first time. Whether some people have a great year and others have the worst time of their lives can depend a lot on how safe and comfortable the individual feels in their temporary home. By simply taking the time to create a safer atmosphere at college, students can determine their own safety. If they are patient enough to take a few extra minutes to make sure that all exterior doors are locked and not open to unwelcome intruders, knowing safe routes, where emergency facilities are located, and getting acquainted with campus personnel, a first time college student can increase their personal safety and even the safety of others.
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