It is hard to argue with the fact that university campuses should feel like a safe haven.
This is why UCSU Tri-Executive Victoria Garcia is working with the UCSU Health and Safety director and 37 other groups in the Boulder area to build the CU Safety Task Force.
“The main goals for the Safety Task Force are to be sustainable, communicate back to students everything that we are working on and definitely safety awareness,” said Garcia, a senior communication major, who has been the driving force behind the Safety Task Force.
The Safety Task Force was established in November of 2008. It was first proposed to facilities management last year by the UCSU safety director, but was pushed aside until the urgency for such an organization was heightened by the recent outbreak of attacks on and around campus.
Many people in the Boulder community are now worried about safety, including Meredith Voss, a freshman pre-communication major.
“I think (the attacks were) extremely scary,” said Voss. “I used to feel really safe. It definitely makes it scarier going anywhere at night, especially as a girl.”
According to Tri-executive Dustin Farivar, members of the Safety Task Force are making moves to ensure campus safety.
“We have completed campus walkthroughs to audit safety and are working with Facilities Management to add lighting around the darkest areas of campus, including Norlin Library and Kittredge residence halls,” said Farivar, a senior political science major.
While progress is being made in the right direction, there is still work to be done to make the CU campus safer. Night Ride has added a sixth car to better serve students, but it can still be difficult to get a ride.
“It still takes so long when you call,” Voss said. “It makes it hard to take advantage of Night Ride.”
Since the safety of students is not something that can simply be addressed by adding a few streetlights or one more Night Ride car, Garcia says the Safety Task Force is working toward making safety a number one priority in the community.
“We are working on a safety initiative which is going to be a collaboration of different groups,” Garcia said. “The aim is to find out what everyone is doing in terms of promoting safety. We are trying to encourage people to work together.”
The Safety Task Force has also talked about printing a safety guide for students, as well as sending e-mails and posting safety tips on the CU Web site.
The Safety Task Force will continue to encourage students to work together to ensure safety, according to Garcia.
“We have a lot of potential to do really great things, but we need to look out for one another,” Garcia said.
Contact Victoria Garcia at victoria.garcia@colorado.edu for more information regarding the Safety Task Force.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Sarah Ruebsamen at Sarah.ruebsamen@colorado.edu.
