Public Safety is re-evaluating the safety of AU after five reported sexual advances on campus since August, four within the past two weeks.
Director of Public Safety Colleen Carson met with Physical Plant representatives Friday about installing new Blue Lights in problem areas, adding officers to the evening shift patrol and comparing data with the Metropolitan Police Department and public safety directors at other area schools.
"[Public Safety is] working closely with the Metropolitan Police Department and has stepped up patrols on campus in addition to ... issuing crime alerts so students themselves can take some responsibility for their safety," she said.
While the campus is urban and open, problems like this have been sporadic, said Dean of Students Faith Leonard, a 20-year employee of AU.
"Every once in awhile, there has been a problem like this that has emerged and that's been dealt with promptly," she said. "Then we return to that feeling of safety."
Carson agreed and said problems like these, while few and far between, do arise.
On average, one to two sexual advances are reported each year, Executive Director of Housing and Dining Julie Weber said.
"It's almost in a cyclical way," she said. "Every few years we have something that happens that does send up fear among students, and the main thing is that we get on it immediately."
She said her main focus is to catch the person responsible.
Leonard urged students not to be complacent in their sense of safety and to use the tips outlined in the campus crime alerts.
"It behooves all students to be really alert to their surroundings and follow all practical safety tips," she said. "We are a very safe campus; we can't take that safety for granted."
The Student Confederation and the Office of Campus Life are planning to facilitate dialogue with the AU community regarding last week's on-campus, unwanted sexual advances, Leonard said.
Alerting students to problems as soon as possible is one of Carson's department's biggest concerns, she said.
"We are a 24-7 campus and I want to be able to get information out at midnight if we have to," Carson said.
The SC has planned a forum for Tuesday at 8 p.m. in the McDowell Formal Lounge with AU administrators to discuss a solution to these problems plaguing the campus.
"We hope the forum will last at least a few hours and be very productive," said Carlos Ramirez, Speaker Pro-Tempore for the General Assembly and chair of the GA's Committee on Student Life. "This campus is not as safe as the administration thinks it is."
Ramirez said he would like to see stricter access to the residence halls, more patrolling officers and the shuttle bus stop in front of Hughes Hall instead of the Ward Building at night so students don't have to walk across the main Quad to their rooms.
"My interest is that this doesn't happen again because one incident of this type of crime is too many," Ramirez said.
SC and GA representatives met with AU administrators on Oct. 13 to discuss lighting issues, SC President Nick Terzulli noted in a Nov. 10 press release.
"In taking these initiatives and in collaborating with the administration, the SC seeks to make AU a safer and better-lit campus," Terzulli said in the release.
