Imagine this: You lost track of time studying in the library. Now it’s just past midnight, closing time, and you have to leave. On the streets everything is quiet except the distant sounds of highways. You look to be the only one out. How do you feel? Some students on campus feel perfectly fine making the walk home alone.
That’s according to an informal canvass of students in the Henderson Campus Center, six of whom spoke with The Campus to share their opinions.
While students at Allegheny grapple with many of the typical fears and discomforts that come with walking from place to place on a college campus, some maintain feelings of safety and feel protected by the school and community.
This appears to be a serious change from previous years when safety was a pre-eminent concern. Following an armed sexual assault of a student in the fall of 2019 semester, administrators hosted a forum where students expressed several concerns with public safety infrastructure — including malfunctioning card scanning systems on residence hall doors, inadequate lighting, and expertise and response time of Public Safety officers, according to reporting by The Campus at the time.
Now that most students present for those events have graduated, it seems the safety issue has begun to fade into memory. For some students who were not on campus during the Ravine disasters, Meadville represents a smaller, more relaxed corner of the world where danger isn’t as common.
“You know, in the Meadville area I don’t see no crimes or any of that,” said Johan Rivas, ’27, a student from the Bronx in New York. “Especially from where I come from, that’s a daily thing I would see. But here it’s like a very calm, positive area where you will probably feel safe.”
For others, such as Anaya Harper, ’26, the calmness of Meadville is the exact factor that contributes to feelings of unease, particularly at night.
“I’m from New York, and it’s very busy at all times so I think that safety isn’t one of my biggest issues there, because there’s always something going on outside,” Harper said. “Meanwhile, Meadville is very quiet and at night, you don’t know what’s happening in the quieter areas so I would say it’s different.”
Regardless, students appear to have faith in their campus community to keep them safe.
“It seems that everyone has a slight bit of care for each other,” said Jazmine Thomas, ’27. “So far people have taken care of me and made me feel taken care of. So I haven’t felt threatened at all.”
Since 2019, the Office of Public Safety has installed peep-holes in interior residence hall doors, lights that stay on permanently or are motion activated and unable to be turned off via switch. They have fixed malfunctioning card scanning systems on exterior doors and installed alarms on some doors to sound if they are propped open. They have also increased outside lighting and added exterior security cameras on buildings around campus.
“We want to interact with the students,” said Director of Public Safety Jim Basinger. “We want to have community engagement. We want students to feel safe to come and talk with us if they have a problem.”
Basinger explained one way they try to connect with student’s perspectives to keep them safe. “Every semester we walk, usually with representatives from ASG (Allegheny Student Government) and Physical Plant, and we do what’s called a dark walk,” Basinger said. “We identify areas that need improved lighting, shrubbery that needs taken down, lightbulbs that are out, all kinds of things like that. And we have input from ASG reps when we do that.”
He also expressed Public Safety’s willingness and desire to meet with students, share the resources they offer, and hear their concerns.
If there is something making you feel unsafe on campus, Basinger recommends working with groups on campus to organize and get your voice heard.
“The administration here listens to the students,” he said.
While Public Safety has a variety of resources available, such as offering to escort uncomfortable students home at night, the 14 call boxes posted around campus and the Omnilert Safety App, some students are not aware of these provisions. Anyone who might feel more secure knowing about these resources should explore Public Safety’s website.