UGA faces new calls for campus safety measures after nursing student's death
ATHENS, Ga. — While the slaying of a nursing student in an apparent random attack at the University of Georgia last week has spurred some students to enact personal safety measures, including walking in groups and packing pepper spray, pressure is mounting on the college to urgently upgrade security on campus.
ATHENS, Ga. — While the slaying of a nursing student in an apparent random attack at the University of Georgia last week has spurred some students to enact personal safety measures, including walking in groups and packing pepper spray, pressure is mounting on the college to urgently upgrade security on campus.
The debate over how to best protect students comes at a troubling moment across the country as university campuses have been rocked by deadly violence.
At the University of Georgia, an online petition to place "blue lights" — emergency phone boxes that allow the user to quickly connect with police — across its Athens campus of more than 40,000 students garnered over 25,000 signatures on Monday.
And the nonprofit organization SafeD Athens, which includes parents of students, is calling on the university to take on other initiatives, such as increased safety patrols, enhanced camera surveillance systems in designated "safe zones" and re-evaluating the campus' environmental design to identify areas where people could be prone to dangerous situations.
"We've been pushing these programs for well over three years, and many times in front of stakeholders and UGA leadership, and it falls on deaf ears, quite honestly," SafeD Athens board President Susan Monteverde said Monday. "And we're asking parents to help, we're asking students to help or want students to take responsibility for their own safety and security on campus."
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