Dozens of students gathered on Brock Commons by the Chi Fountain Tuesday night to participate in the annual Campus Safety Walk. This event is sponsored by the Residential and Commuter Life Advisory Board, Campus Police and the Longwood Real Estate Foundation. It was held to allow students and staff to make a difference by promoting campus safety.
As students arrived, they separated into nine different groups, each group headed by two student volunteer coordinators. These groups were each in charge of a specific area. For example, one group visited Lancer Park while another group was in charge of checking out the Wheeler Mall area.
As they explored these areas, students were encouraged to point out spots they felt were unsafe. Maybe a specific street needed more lighting because it left a dark corner of campus and seemed a little spooky at night.
The participants were not only encouraged to critique the landscape, as president of the student safety organization Elyce Longnaker said, “We’re here to point out the good, the bad and the ugly. We want to help [the] campus by pointing out things that we think need to be fixed, but we need to applaud the good things as well.”
After pointing out and recording seemingly unsafe areas, the groups turned their findings into the Longwood Police Department. The event helped the department see campus from the eyes of students as they investigate the questionable parts of campus and determine ways to fix them.
The goal of this event as stated by Doug Howell, RCL Advisory Board Member, “Is to make campus as safe as it possibly can be.”
Students were treated to complimentary hot chocolate and cookies upon return from their investigation of their assigned areas. Prizes such as t-shirts, a spring semester parking pass and other goodies were raffled off at the completion of the walk.
One sophomore participant, Rebecca Doody, said, “I thought it was really cool to go more in depth into areas of campus while also helping the police department find ways to make us safer.”
