Marshall’s community leaders collaborated to enhance campus safety by organizing a campus safety walk that resulted in the identification and resolution of specific areas of concern on campus.

“The mayor, the city works director, along with representatives from all the university offices, including the president’s office and student government, take a tour of campus looking at lighting, crosswalks, stops- anything that they deem could be a safety issue,” MUPD Chief Jim Terry said.

The purpose of the event is to identify campus trouble spots that might be overlooked, enabling swift and effective resolution.

“Since we’re all there–physical plant, police department, safety–we can direct it to the right people to address it in real-time,” Terry added.

Additionally, the event allows community leaders to network with one another and also gives them the opportunity to connect and discuss with  community members.

“But, most importantly, we just have time together that opens the door for us to just pick up the phone and call each other when we see something else, but this is a very special time for us,” Mayor Steve Williams said.

Terry expressed the same gratitude for the event. 

“It was a good evening,” he said. “And it pulls everyone together at least once a year where we can all work on those issues.”

The event was successful, with several suggestions and actions taken, including changing light bulbs that have gone out around campus and addressing larger concerns such as crosswalk safety.

“Lots of good suggestions came out last night. One of them we’re going to try to fix is pedestrian safety by making sure to activate the light because most people just walk across, which isn’t safe at all,” Terry said.

“I would love to sit out there with my megaphone to address the concern, but it probably wouldn’t be effective, which is why SGA is working on ways to help fix that problem,” Terry added.