Campus Safety: What You Need to Know

For the following blog post, The Christian Connector writer interviewed two campus safety professionals for their insight and expertise on the subject. They are as follows:

1^st Sergeant David Manseau, Training and Compliance Director of Regent University Police Department

Kenton Ferrin, Director of Campus Safety at Vanguard University of Southern California

Campus Safety

            Campus Safety represents one of the biggest and most important areas of college life that many new students are underprepared for. Growing up, and throughout high school, most students’ safety in many ways is in the hands of their parents, teachers, administrators, and some other familiar adults. When you step out of that sphere and into college, the role of responsibility and safety shifts.

            “I think the biggest culture shock for incoming freshmen is when they realize how much personal responsibility they now carry for their own safety,” 1^st Sergeant David Manseau said.

            Now, instead of an adult constantly looking out for you, you are looking out for you. This transition can come as a bit of a shock, especially as everything else under the sun shifts for a college freshman: newfound freedom and independence, low accountability, new social atmosphere, new location, etc. As with every transition, there is learning to be done along the way as you figure things out. But when it comes to your safety, trial and error may not be the best way to learn.

            Because of that, we’ve consulted two campus safety experts to ensure that you know the basics of campus safety and don’t start off your college career unaware of what’s out there.

General Campus Safety

            There are many areas of campus safety to be aware of, ranging from personal safety to community safety. Risks on a college campus come in all different shapes and sizes, and may change based on your area. No two colleges are exactly the same, so before you go to college, do some research on the area, crime statistics, and even your intended school’s CLERY report for recent years. This will give you an idea of what to be aware of and how to prepare yourself.

            Some of the most common campus security risks are things like trespassing and carjacking. But, things like assault, rape, fraud, theft, and even murder have been documented on college campuses. Now, I don’t say this to send you into a panic, but to help you understand that there is a real need for caution and to take the proper steps to keep yourself safe.

            “Bad guys” are not lurking around every corner, and not everyone you see is going to be up to no good, but that also presents us with an important question: how do we protect ourselves when we don’t know for sure that a situation is a threat or dangerous?

            “Have a present understanding of a safety self-awareness… always trusting your instincts if you think something just seems off. I would respect that sense,” Kenton Ferrin said, “Not taking safety so casually that you completely forget that someone somewhere may want to harm the university or other people.”

            Ferrin stressed that awareness was key to preventing threats, attacks, or unsafe situations from escalating. Awareness looks like knowing your surroundings, knowing where you’re going, knowing about the area and where not to go, and knowing who is around you. You cannot always control what goes on around you, but you can control how you enter a situation and how you respond. Paying attention and staying present are key factors for campus safety.

            “I think a lot of dangerous situations can be mitigated with the use of simple habits. So stuff like walking with other people when possible, you know? A big one is trusting their own instincts… For me, the biggest one, which is also a pet peeve of mine, is don’t be glued to your phone while in public,” Manseau said, “yeah, unfortunately, too many people are kind of zeroed in on that screen and they couldn’t even tell you if somebody was right next to them.”

            Staying vigilant is perhaps one of the best ways to avoid dangerous situations and keep yourself safe. However, sometimes you can do everything right, and still run into a bad situation. In those cases, be it a threatening person, the aftermath of a carjacking, a heated conflict, or any number of safety risks or breaches, do you know what to do?  

            The first step in any unsafe situation or in the aftermath of a crime is to call campus safety, if it happened on campus. If a crime occurred off campus, call the police. Now, it can be confusing to know what sort of threats warrant the presence of campus security, so some questions you can ask to determine if you should call campus safety are: was a crime committed? Is there a threat to your safety or another’s safety? Is there a risk of harm, to yourself or someone else?

            If the answer to those questions is yes, call campus safety. If you are not sure, it’s best to err on the side of caution, and call campus safety anyway. Explain the situation, tell them where you are, and have them advise you on what to do.

            “We always tell them, ‘You know, if you’re not sure, call us and we will find out.’ We’ll go, we’ll investigate,” Manseau said.

            Another important step in campus safety and being prepared is being equipped with safety devices and apps. Pepper spray, sirens/alarms, pocketknives, and even tasers are common safety devices that anyone can get to help protect themselves. Manseau points out that before you arrive on campus, you need to read through your student handbook to determine what kind of safety devices your campus will allow you to have. Some campuses may allow pepper spray and pocketknives, some may even allow students to carry licensed and registered firearms, and some may only allow alarms.

            Whatever safety device you are allowed to use, be sure you test it first and know how to use it. Pepper spray can expire, so make sure you know when you’ll need to replace it, if you decide to use that.

            Your phone is also an important safety device.

“Every university has some kind of emergency communication system, whether it’s RAVE, or for us it’s Titan… some universities have their own app that gives you all kinds of information and ways to contact Campus Safety. They need to download that app,” Ferrin said, “Most of them, I would say about 50%, don’t do that.”

Preparation, awareness, and keeping up with simple safety habits, like walking with others, sharing your location with friends and family, and keeping off your phone in public, are essential campus safety practices and personal safety practices for any situation. With that in mind, let’s look at some specific potential threats.

Trafficking and Relationship Risks

Even on a college campus, there is a risk of trafficking or kidnapping. The big thing to understand is that trafficking and kidnapping are rarely done the way you see it in the movies.

“Students should know that trafficking and kidnapping style risk often begins with manipulation, and not force,” Manseau said, “I think we all kind of get that picture in our head of the van pulling up and grabbing you and throwing you in, but the reality is, you know, it starts with overly flattering contact, fake job offers, urgent requests, ‘respond right away.’”

With the internet as integrated into our lives as it is, we’ve all seen the phishing emails, urgent requests via email and text, and likely been contacted by fake Instagram or Facebook accounts. These are risks we’ve come to expect, but what many college students possibly aren’t prepared for are the threats playing the long game.

These are people who will establish a relationship with you, build trust, and rope you in. Once you are in a position to be used by them, they’ll manipulate, threaten, and isolate you to get what they want. This can result in being trafficked, kidnapped, raped, and any number of awful things. It’s so important to be aware of this risk and some of the ways you can spot the warning signs.

Ferrin described some of the warning signs, saying, “you’re not able to see anything that’s theirs, so there’s no personal connection. There’s always another way that they’re trying to explain, ‘Well… I can’t take you to see my friends, I don’t have any friends, I can’t see my family.’ There’s no questions about personal [life], where you grew up, or any of those kinds of things. So you don’t really actually know the other person, and then they’re inquiring about things about you that are super personal… Are they respectful of you and your friends? Any of those red flags that you see, I would pay attention to the red flags right off the beginning.”

“Well for relationships, one sign to really look for is isolation. And what I mean by that is, is that person trying to separate you from what you know, like family, friends, churches? That’s a strong warning sign,” Manseau said.

If you start to see these warning signs in a relationship, pull the plug. Even if they aren’t a trafficker, it’s certainly not going to be a healthy relationship. Don’t entertain something that will harm you. If they don’t accept the breakup, keep showing up, or won’t leave you alone, go to your campus’ Title IX coordinator. They will work with you to keep you safe and resolve the situation. If at any point in the breakup process or afterward, the other person gets aggressive or threatens you, immediately contact campus safety and/or the police. If a situation happens off campus, immediately call the police.

            When it comes to relationships, make sure that you always have someone that you can talk to about it. Whether that’s a parent, friend, or therapist, make sure that someone always knows what’s going on. They may also be able to provide a more objective perspective on warning signs or unusual behavior, which can be life saving when we’re seeing things through rose-colored glasses.

College Dorm Security

            Dorms are meant to be a student’s home away from home. And, like home, you want to feel safe and secure within the walls of your haven. Colleges do what they can to make dorms as safe a space as possible for students. Security measures like key cards or credential-only entry to dorms are common, ensuring that only those who are authorized can enter the building. Many dorms even have security cameras.

            So, with all safety measures in place, what do you, the student, need to be aware of to preserve safety in the dorms?

            “We’ve had a lot of times where they’ll just, like, leave a door open for a fellow student who lost their key or lost their card,” Ferrin said, “you can have the best access control in the world, but if you leave the door open then anybody can just walk right in.”

            A huge part of college dorm safety comes from the rules surrounding doors, guests, and housing regulations. The college can put in place safety measures, door locks, ID entry, cameras—and most colleges do—but these are only as effective as the students’ adherence to rules and guidelines.

“Despite all the technological deterrents that I mentioned, or that schools can institute, you know, it’s the students themselves that do the most to protect their living areas,” Manseau said.

            There are many rules set by housing or residence life that can seem trivial or annoying, but it’s important to remember that there is a purpose behind them. One of the main rules to ensure that dorms are kept safe is to not prop open doors or let anyone in the dorms that does not have a key card or permission to be there. Many colleges have visitor guidelines that allow you to bring family or friends into your room, but only with permission.

            College dorm security really comes down to following the rules, making sure to close the door after yourself, and reporting anything suspicious or concerning to residence life or campus security.

Cybersecurity

            Most of us by now have a pretty good handle on cybersecurity, with so much of our daily life spent with our phones or computers, whether for homework, work, or socializing. So, when it comes to cybersecurity on campus, the basics of what we’ve already learned absolutely apply: don’t click on suspicious links, don’t give out private information online, check the sender, don’t send money or pictures to people you don’t know, etc.

            When we merge that knowledge with campus safety, we also need to understand that cybersecurity threats no longer just impact us.

            “Even though you may be a target, you might not be the big target. You know, realizing that they may be trying to go after the university itself, but they’ll use you,” Manseau said, “because some people are thinking, well, I’m nobody, my credit score is bad, or I don’t have any money, so, nobody’s gonna target me—but realizing that, just because you don’t have those things, you are a part of the university.”

            If you get hacked, download a virus, or get malware on your computer while on your school email or even while connected to your school’s network, it can end up spreading or possibly cause a system breach for the whole university, exposing sensitive information which could impact the whole student body, staff, and yourself.

            If you receive any suspicious emails, texts, or social media messages, report them to your school’s IT department. Be aware that even hackers are getting more clever, so you’ll need to be even more vigilant in double checking emails to make sure they are from trusted sources.

Ferrin pointed out, “most of the [phishing emails] you get in the university is it appears it’s coming from the university, and even some cases, it’s got the president’s name on it, but… it’s a personal Gmail account. That’s never real.”

            In most cases, with cybersecurity concerns, you’ll go to IT services. However, if a crime as already been committed, such as your bank account getting cleaned out, fraud, threats being made to you, or you are being extorted or blackmailed, then you should go straight to campus security. Depending on the severity of the crime, they will involve other parties (police, FBI) as needed.

College Safety Tips

There are a lot of aspects to campus safety and personal safety to be aware of, and once you leave home the responsibility for it is in your hands. Be intentional about your safety, but also about who you let in your life. The people you surround yourself with are going to be the ones who have the most access to your life, and the most influence.

“Are you giving people permission to know a lot about you and to have access to your life that you don’t know or trust? You know, a lot of people go into untrusting, unknowing relationships with others, and it backfires on them,” Ferrin said, “trust your instincts. If you’re not sure about people, don’t give them access to your life… Make them earn it over time, you know what I mean?”

Campus safety and your new personal responsibility can be quite a big shift, and it may come as a shock at first, but that’s okay; you’ll figure it out. Campus safety really comes down to common sense, awareness, compliance with rules, and not being afraid to speak up.

“That whole learning how to do things on their own is going to be tough, you know, they just really need to be aware of that,” Manseau said, “for me, I think the most important [advice] is to do all things as unto the Lord, and in all your ways trust in him. And you’d be surprised how that helps.”

As always, for information on Christian colleges and universities, or to be entered into one of our scholarship drawings, visit us at The Christian Connector.