As colleges across the country work to implement increased personal defense and emergency response training for staff and students, AU has maintained a consistent and comprehensive public safety program, said Lt. Rima Sifri, AU Public Safety's crime prevention coordinator.
The university has established several other methods of personal defense training which students are taking advantage of in reaction to the recent armed robbery and sexual assaults near AU. An armed robbery was reported near Tenley campus on Aug. 20 and an instance of sexual assault on Massachusetts Avenue on Aug. 29, The Eagle previously reported.
AU's health and fitness department offers the one-credit course "Personal Defense" every semester. A less expensive and time-consuming alternative is a set of Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) classes, which Public Safety administers several times a semester and Women's Initiative publicizes.
RAD is a set of four three-hour-long self-defense classes for women. Each day's session has a different focus, starting with a session about area awareness and security surveys and eventually moving to one on defensive strikes and kicks. On the final day, the students face a simulation of a physical attack, according to Sifri, who is a RAD instructor.
Meghan Clark-Kevan, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, said she took the RAD course.
"Besides learning personal defense, it's all about empowerment and knowing you can," she said. "I did a class in heels."
AU has offered RAD classes for approximately seven years. Since there has been high demand for the classes this year, the university may add more sections, including one for men, Sifri said.
Alert DC and AU Campus Connect are methods for students to receive emergency alerts through e-mail or text messages. Public Safety also does community outreach at various events on campus, including floor meetings and the Wellness Fair, she said.
Rebecca Nuzzi, a sophomore in the School of International Service, said she thinks the university needs to better publicize these resources.
"You'd think that more resources would be made available to students," she said. "And if they are, they're not publicized enough, because I haven't heard of any."
A student's best defenses are to know what is around him or her and to use common sense, said Associate Dean of Students Sara Waldron.
Rachel Voss, a junior in CAS and SIS, said that while she is more cautious since the attacks, it has not significantly changed her behavior.
"I try not to walk alone at night anymore, but most of the time when I'm actually out at night, I'm not thinking about it," she said.
While personal safety may not always be at the forefront of every student's mind, Sifri said teaching students how to best respond in an emergency situation is a priority and has been since long before sexual assaults and campus shootings became more common topics of discussion on AU's campus.
"We're not a reactive university," she said. "These procedures were already in place."
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