September 2, 2011 - 8:52pm
'U' officials walk around Oxbridge and East Packard areas to raise safety awareness
BY GIACOMO BOLOGNA
Members of the Office of Student Affairs, Ann Arbor Police Department, the University’s Department of Public Safety and other University leaders went door-to-door in the Oxbridge and Packard neighborhoods on Sept. 2 to raise safety awareness.
Participants — including Ann Arbor Police Chief Barnett Jones, DPS Chief Greg O'Dell, and University Dean of Students Laura Blake Jones — handed out literature about safe practices in off-campus living and spoke one-on-one to approximately 350 houses, according to Josh Buoy, LSA junior and student safety assistant.
Buoy and Stephanie Hamel, LSA junior and student safety assistant, were also present for the walk. Their positions were recently created to “foster a greater sense of community and provide greater access to safety information and resources,” Buoy said.
The walk also provided an opportunity to publicize Beyond the Diag, a new program through the Office of Student Affairs that promotes off-campus safety. Residents were given pamphlets about safety on campus and information about the Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center, city ordinances and DPS.
The pamphlets also included a list of transportation options, including SafeRide, to lessen the amount of people who walk home alone at night. SafeRide — 734.647.8000 — directs the caller to one of their three transportation services.
Hamel said Beyond the Diag and the act of condensing the transportation options down to one number were changes the University has wanted to make for a while because the effects will have long term benefits to the community.
