With students returning to campus for the fall semester, Calvin is taking part in National Campus Safety Awareness Month (NCSAM) for September. Throughout the month, students can expect safety reminders across campus and internal communications through Knight Life as a means of spreading awareness, according to Associate Director of Public Relations, John Zimmerman.
Action Steps for Students
In light of NCSAM, Tyson Moore, Campus Safety Acting Director, shares tips that students can take as preventative safety measures.
Firstly, Moore recommends that all students download the KnightGuard app on their phones. The app — available for download on both the IOS and Google Play app stores — is a hub for all things safety; it gives students immediate access to a safety toolbox, mobile blue light, and maps, amongst other resources.
The goal of the app is to “take the place of a blue pole,” says Moore. The blue safety poles, which are mostly out of commission, were installed as an accessible way to contact emergency services in the event of a crisis. While the poles are out of commission — and even when they are running again — KnightGuard offers the same services.
Most of all, Moore wants students to take from Campus Safety Awareness Month that you should “be aware of your surroundings” and that “a lot of things can be prevented through awareness.” In a similar vein, he suggests that students should do things like lock their cars, lock their dorm rooms, and look up from their phones when walking.
“We don’t do it alone,” said Moore, in regard to the fact that active reporting is how emergencies on campus are apprehended. If you see something, say something; this principle led to the fixing of lights around campus over the summer.
Safety updates
Moore shared that “one of the complaints I got last year was lighting,” in reference to the number of working light structures around campus. Due to the reports of poor lighting, Campus Safety had the opportunity to make a change by mapping out the lights that were out and having them replaced over the spring and summer.
A numbering and lettering system was also applied to all buildings over the summer as a way for first responders to get to the scene of an emergency quickly, according to Moore.
As for the future of the blue safety poles, a grant has been sought out and approved for replacing the structures. However, when “the new presidential administration came in and put a pause to all grants,” the $150,000 grant from the Department of Homeland Security was put on pause, according to Moore. Once the funds have been released, Campus Safety will work to purchase and replace the broken poles. Zimmerman advises that the new poles will feature improvements, including cameras, light sensors, and sound.
How does safety function at Calvin?
In order for students to gain a better understanding of how safety is handled on campus, Moore explains that Campus Safety is not Calvin’s only safety committee. For instance, the Executive Safety Committee meets to discuss safety; this committee consists of both cabinet members and Moore. A subcommittee of this committee is the Emergency Management Planning Team, which handles how to recover as a community from emergency situations.
Outside of Campus Safety and the safety committees specifically on campus and dedicated to Calvin, Calvin is under the jurisdiction of multiple area responders from East Grand Rapids, Grand Rapids, and Kentwood. With that being said, Moore suggests that if someone were to cause a dangerous situation on campus, “they picked a bad spot” due to Calvin being under multiple jurisdictions.
Throughout this month dedicated to raising awareness of safety measures on campus, take a moment to read the safety tips around campus and sent via Knight Life.
