Liberty’s Student Government Association will partner with multiple departments around campus to host a Campus Security Walk. The walk, happening Nov. 3 from 5-7 p.m., will allow both students and safety administrators to explore campus together to identify safety needs.
Students attending the event will meet on the Montview Student Union steps at 5 p.m. to talk through the walk with administrators before splitting into groups to walk around various places throughout campus to identify safety concerns.
Campus Pastor Jonathan Falwell will be leading attendees in prayer before the walk begins.
The idea stemmed from other universities such as Radford and Virginia Tech who have done this in previous years. Each university partnered their SGA with safety officials to improve campus security, and the results
were positive.
Daniel Hostetter, president of the SGA, made note of the complexity of the event.
“The Campus (Security) Walk is something that we dreamed up alongside the Office of Security & Public Safety, which encompasses the four major safety departments on campus: the LUPD, the Office of Environmental Health & Safety, Office of Control and Office of Emergency Management & Community Engagement,” Hostetter said. “The four heads of each of the safety departments, including Executive Vice President of Security & Public Safety Ronald Sloan and Senior Vice President of Student Affairs Dr. Mark Hine, will be in attendance.”
Hostetter said that students will be able to look for potential safety improvements during the walk.
“Things such as crosswalks that are missing or need (to be) improved, stop signs that need to be made more visible or lighting that maybe has gone out or needs updated are all things that everyone can be on the lookout for during the walk,” Hostetter said. “We’re also searching for new locations for the blue light boxes – we need to add more of those.”
This is the first year that Liberty will be holding the event. Hostetter expects a good turnout.
“We see this as a good opportunity to let students know that administration cares about their safety,” Hostetter said. “We have some physical fliers to hand out, and we’re having some professors announce this in their class. We’re really hoping to get the best numbers possible.”
Alli Mullet, a Liberty student, looks forward to the walk.
“I’m interested in this event because I think it’s really great that SGA is taking steps towards better safety on campus,” Mullet said. “Students should attend because they’ll be more aware of unsafe spots on campus, and that’s important.”
The goal of this event, according to Hostetter, is to connect students to administration so that they are able to directly voice safety concerns.
“Students get a wonderful chance to have a direct say in the safety of their campus,” he said. “If there’s something that a student has seen that is unsafe, this is the perfect opportunity to voice those concerns and get some solutions completed. This fits perfectly within the missions of both SGA and the Office of Security & Public Safety.”
At the conclusion of the event, there will be a post-walk survey that attendees are encouraged to fill out to more fully express safety concerns. For more information on the event, visit www.events.liberty.edu.
Hess is the asst. news editor for the Liberty Champion