Oracle Online

No, this person is not an extraterrestrial looking for Hamline students to experiment on. It is a Hamline Safety & Security officer carrying out the new and expanded safety escort service.

The Office of Safety & Security’s escort program previously focused on escorting students by golf cart upon request from the office. The new expanded program, however, takes a more proactive approach-seeking out students who may want a ride before they call.

The usual Hamline security will continue to be available to escort students upon request, but one of the Hamline vans will be in use to pick up students without calling Monday through Sunday between 9 p.m. and 11 or 12 p.m. depending on campus activity.

The Oracle has taken note of and commends the Hamline administration and the Office of Safety & Security’s combined efforts to improve safety on campus.

We also commend Safety and Security for getting officers out into the neighborhood where they can get a better impression of who is out walking around.

The new escort service seems to show a better understanding of how students think and takes into account the fact that while students may want a safety escort, they may not be willing to put a call in to the office and wait for the escort to arrive. However, if the administration truly paid attention to students’ habits, they would know that we are quite frequently awake and about into the wee hours of the morning, especially on weekends, and later hours will be necessary to really make an impact.

New programs, policies, improvements and additions have been going on since last spring to improve security on campus. This, however, is one of the first concrete steps we have seen to improve security off campus. At a university where the majority of students do not live on campus, these measures are critical to make commuter students feel that Hamline cares about our safety, too.