Student Senate members agreed last night that fixing the emergency blue light system won't solve all the problems of campus safety at Ohio University.
At-Large Senator Liz Herron said safety is a broad issue that does not apply to just women, minorities or the blue light system on campus. She emphasized the need to approach the topic broadly.
We have in this moment the opportunity to tangibly improve the lives of thousands of students
she said. I hope we can come up with adequate comprehensive solutions.
A survey last April by the Presidential Advisory Council on Campus Safety, of which Herron is a member, found that Jeff Hill and areas around Baker University Center are where students feel the most unsafe.
The blue lights are a system of emergency call boxes and phones around campus which has fallen into disrepair, prompting university officials to evaluate their future.
Most recently, PACCS drafted a plan to update the system by installing new lights as buildings are renovated while phasing out the old ones, Herron said.
Herron stressed that lighting alone is not enough.
It's not about the lights she said. We asked people where they didn't feel safe but that didn't tell us why.
Senate members will gather responses from their constituents about the nature of safety this week using a list of questions compiled by Herron. The senate will have another discussion on the topic next Wednesday.
Student Senate President Jesse Neader said he hopes to learn more about what makes students feel safe.
Safety is not tangible. A sense of safety is very much a feeling and you can't really quantify it he said. We need to meet students where they are. We need to think about safety outside of lighting.
Herron said she wants to incorporate all views of safety in next week's discussion.
I hope that we can start thinking about holistic safety approaches
she said. It's not necessarily safe to be who you are at all times on this campus.
She also said a gender-neutral housing pilot program would be a positive step.
Senate passed a resolution last night endorsing the creation of a gender-neutral housing pilot program during the 2011-2012 school year. Such a program would allow students
of different genders to live as roommates.
That adds a depth of security that often people in the LGBT community and allies don't feel because they are stigmatized by society
Neader said of the resolution.
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Joe Fox
