FAU’s annual Safety Walk aims to increase security on campus
Every year, FAU hosts “Safety Walk,” an event where student volunteers and FAU Police Department walk all over campus to find safety hazards that could endanger students. The event is a collaboration, hosted by Night Owls, FAUPD, and the FAU Residential Student Association (RSA).
The walk began at 6 p.m. on Wednesday when volunteers from student organizations and Student Government met in front of the Student Union. Students were then split into two groups to inspect different areas.
The purpose of the event is to create awareness regarding safety issues on campus and to serve as a way to quickly recognize physical dangers that need to be urgently fixed.
“The goal is to continue to bring awareness to facilities, parking, and other departments that may be involved in making sure that the campus is safe for our residents and students as well,” said Marc Edmond, the assistant director of safety education at FAU’s Department of Housing.
The UP followed the Safety Walk with Group A, the route that patrolled primarily the residential areas of Atlantic Park Towers (APT) all the way to University Village Apartments (UVA).
Justin Gadson, the president of the RSA, has taken part in the safety walk before, marking his second year taking part in the event. He comments that a prominent issue in past years was potholes that spread throughout the residential parking lots in UVA. Since then, the university addressed the issues pointed out by the Safety Walk.
“I definitely have seen some progress between last year and this year forward. They’re taking our concerns in fixing them and actually finding the solution to them,” said Gadson.
Devin Antoine, the director of Night Owls, states that another recurring issue is the poorly lit areas.
“That’s why we do the event in the nighttime, we want to see if there are certain lights out and if there are certain dark areas, “ said Antoine.
This year’s safety walk routes noticed a large number of broken lights, especially in residential areas on campus and parking lots. In route A alone, the UP counted around 18-25 lights that were turned off, primarily concentrated in Parliament Hall and UVA area. In addition, there was an emergency blue light phone that was turned off by Lot 28 and uneven sidewalks by UVA.
According to Gadson, the safety walk is one of the easiest ways to get the university’s attention on safety hazards around campus. While FAU could rely simply on just polls and surveys from students, the safety walk can be seen as a rewarding experience for many.
“We all have a common goal, which is to make FAU better for generations to come,” said Gadson.
Melanie Gomez is the Features Editor for the University Press. For more information regarding this or other stories, you can contact her at melanieg200212@gmail.com or on her Instagram page @cupidfloats.
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