On Thursday, Nov. 3, at 8:30 p.m., members of the campus community partnered together to conduct a campus safety walk.  Members of Student Affairs, Residence Life, Facilities, Environmental Health and Safety, and Public Safety were joined by over a dozen student representatives from the Student Senate and Residence Hall Association.

Split into two teams, the group covered the campus to look at safety issues that may present themselves at night to members of the community walking on campus.  The two groups located various safety concerns, and took the steps to document them so that corrective actions can be taken.  All of the concerns were directed to either Public Safety, Facilities, or Environmental Health and Safety to work on resolving.

As we all know campus safety is a shared responsibility.  The campus looks and feels a lot different after-hours and a safety walk with various members of the campus community allows for items that might not be seen during the day to standout.  Although Public Safety and Facilities conduct regular monthly lighting surveys, this walk looked not only at lighting, but several other issues.

Special thank you to Douglass Robinett, assistant director of Residence Life, for proposing this idea and working with RHA to join the effort and to Connor Oetzmann, student body president, for getting the Student Senate involved.

In order to continue this effort, there will be a Spring Campus Safety Walk held in early April.  If you have any questions about the fall walk or would like to participate in the spring walk, please send an email to scott.law@drake.edu.

— Scott Law, Public Safety & Operational Services