Students Voice Safety Concerns
Alexandria Collins
As there are approximately 1,500 students roaming around campus, it is hard to keep the university 100% safe, as we would all like it to be.
Over the years, the Title IX program holds meeting for every first-year to attend before classes start, as well as athletes.
“For those unfamiliar with Title IX, it is a federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination because of gender and it is designed to protect all persons from sexual misconduct,” wrote President Dave McFadden via an email regarding the new team leader for Title IX.
This year, Manchester is trying to do something different regarding technology. The Title IX program has all the student athletes take their meeting via the computers as they watch videos and answer questions about sexual assault and ways to prevent it. As the numbers and facts were shocking, the program would hope to see a decrease in sexual-assault attempts this year.
However, the Manchester University Safety Office has received a report of two sexual assaults this fall. The first was reported to have occurred in late Sept. 2018 and the second on October 16, 2018, in East Hall’s third floor.
Later in the year on Oct. 28, a Spartan Alert was sent at approximately 3:38 a.m. regarding a possible attempted sexual assault that later happened to be reported as battery. The student was not abducted in the assault, which occurred at approximately 3 a.m. between Helman Hall and the Admin Building. The victim remained safe.
In every email about any type of Title IX, towards the bottom there are sexual assault crime prevention tips including the Title IX policy and a number for counseling services.
Manchester University currently looks like it is trying to take more cautiousness regarding safety. On November 2, 2018, students received an email from a FYS class inviting them to fill out three surveys about campus safety.
The first survey asked students where they would like more security and light on campus and where we feel least safe. It also asked for an opinion about having campus security student workers (they are responsible for: dispatch, attending student events and parking violations). The second email asked students about how we feel about more cameras, getting emergency buttons and possible resource officers. The last email included questions about security and how safe we feel on campus.
I think all these ideas would be very beneficial to the university because I truly believe that less things would happen regarding safety. After last year’s incident with a male student going from dorm to dorm walking in rooms stealing from students, I believe that it would make students feel safer and less crime would happen if more campus security members were roaming around at night.
Many universities around the country use emergency buttons, where it is easy to call for safety if something occurs. Also, it might be comforting for visitors to know there are easy resources for safety.