Local university reminds students and staff of safety tips
COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – With the changing of the seasons comes the changing of the clock, and that means it’s getting dark earlier.
And that can mean paying extra attention to safety when you’re out.
That’s particularly true on college campuses, where people tend to walk rather than drive from place to place.
Mississippi University for Women sits in the middle of Columbus.
With city streets running through and bordering campus that means there are several entry points.
The W’s Chief of Campus Police urges students and faculty to keep safety tips in mind.
“Always be mindful of your surroundings. A lot of times, I see students and individuals on campus become really focused on their electronic devices, always walking with their heads up,” Vibrock said.
Chief Vibrock also says students are never too old to utilize the buddy system when walking around the campus.
“Always want to remind them that we have a safety walk program, so if the students feel comfortable walking on campus, they can call our department,” Vibrock said.
It’s important to remember that if you see something suspicious on campus, your first call should be to the police.
“Sometimes we see a delay in reporting sometimes maybe they are concerned with if this raises a level of concern with calling the police my recommendation would be and what I would encourage student to do is if you think you should call the police, call the police,” Vibrock said.
And before you go to social media for your news know that the campus provides updates using the W alert.
“In the event we have a emergency situation that’s going to impact the immediate safety on campus we are about to push out an alert which is going to be a text message and also push out through email so campus community members are aware of the incident and how to respond,” Vibrock said.
The campus is conducting a lighting tour on Thursday to assess the lighting needs of the area. This is an important step towards ensuring the safety of students and faculty, especially during the darker hours of the day.
