There has been a lot of violence in our country in recent months, and I thought this would be a great opportunity to talk about safety on campus. Being such a large campus there is a lot done on a daily basis to keep students, staff, and visitors safe.
There are Bluelight Poles all over campus
As a young woman on campus I have always been very aware of my surroundings and careful not to put myself in unsafe situations. One of the biggest reasons that I have always felt comfortable and safe on campus, even in the middle of the night, is that I know I can always be in contact with campus police in a matter of seconds (even if I don’t have my cell phone with me). On all of NC State’s campuses there are Bluelight poles all around, and when you press the button on the pole you will be immediately connected with the university’s police department. By pressing the emergency button on the Bluelight poles the NC State Police Department can find your exact location and dispatch police, fire, or EMS to wherever you are. While I have never had to use the Bluelight poles (thank goodness), it is nice knowing that they’re there when I am running alone early in the morning or walking home from class at night.
Another awesome service that NC State provides to students, faculty, and staff is called the Safety Escort Service. This is where we can call the Safety Excort Service and a contracted security officer will come pick you up from wherever you are on campus and take you wherever you need to go (on campus) from the hours of 10pm-4am. I was working late over Christmas Break a couple of semesters ago, and did not feel comfortable walking home because campus was empty and the buses weren’t running, so I gave Safety Escort a call. I was very impressed by how professional and willing they were to give me a ride. Now, keep in mind I don’t stay at the library super late like most of my classmates, but I know many of them use or have used Campus Escort pretty regularly getting home from the library after a late night of homework/studying.
One last thing, I encourage all of you to sign up for Wolf Alerts as soon as you enroll as a student at NC State. Wolf Alerts is an emergency broadcasting system that sends text messages, emails, audible alerts on campus, and several other communications that alerts students and community members when something happens on campus. Overall, NC State is incredibly safe and we have our very own police department to thank for that.