MU students, faculty and the MU Police Department patrolled campus for safety concerns Tuesday for the spring 2012 Safety Walk.
Nick Droege, Missouri Students Association Director of Student Services, organized the event. He said it was one of the more successful safety walks to date.
“I think it was just the organization,” Droege said. “It was just really organized. We had campus facilities talk about what everyone should be looking for.”
Safety Walk 2012 was the first to be held in the spring semester instead of the fall.
“Previously, Safety Walk has been done at night, but my opinion was that lights are the easiest thing to do,” Droege said.
Traditionally, Safety Walk participants most often note burnt-out streetlights on their walks.
“The police department checks the lights,” Droege said. “I wanted to really focus on the cracks, where there are trees hanging, those kinds of things.”
Doing the walk in the daylight was much more productive, MSA Board of Elections Committee Chairman Tyler Ricketts said.
“We were able to see some of the things we wouldn’t be able to see in the dark,” he said. “More small, minute things that require better lighting to see. I think that worked well.”
MSA Campus and Community Relations Chairman Mason Schara had his entire committee participate in Safety Walk. His group walked behind the MU Student Center, through Lowry Mall and around Memorial Union.
“There were a couple bricks missing on Lowry Mall that people will fall in if they aren’t looking,” Schara said.
Droege said he had never participated in Safety Walk before.
“I think that helped me because I didn’t have any preconceived notion in my head of what should be done,” he said.
In addition to holding the walk in the daylight, he also promoted the use of photos to document safety concerns. He had people with smartphones take photos to document safety hazards.
Doing Safety Walk is an easy way to give back to the student body, Ricketts said.
“It’s not that much work, but it has a large impact,” he said. “It doesn’t take that much time, and when it’s a nice day out, it’s a good stroll around campus and we leave knowing that we’re making this campus more livable for students.”
Co-programmed with the Department of Student Services, MSA and the Residence Halls Association, Safety Walk was a good opportunity to work with other student leaders, Ricketts said.
“It also shows that MSA can work with our on-campus partners,” he said. “The event is good because it allows us to show students that we work together to help students on this campus.”