Domenica Medaglia-Brown graduated from Plymouth in 2001 and is now the Pemi Hall Residence Director. When she took a job at Plymouth she was surprised to see one thing changed. “Safe Walk was gone!” Medaglia-Brown says.
Safe Walk was a student organization at Plymouth that provided students with on-campus escorts late at night. The program eventually petered out, leaving apprehensive students to walk on their own.
Yet thanks to Medaglia-Brown, and many other residential directors at Plymouth, Safe Walk has returned. The now Residential Life program is being staffed and run by Community Advisors, who volunteer for free.
Thur., Sep. 6, saw the reopening of the service. Safe Walk received only 2 calls, but they expect many more once word gets out.
According to the Annual Crime Statistics Report on the Plymouth website, there has been no increase in violent crimes on campus. But according to Medaglia-Brown, who is also a Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) instructor, Residence directors have been, “hearing from students that they do not feel safe on campus,” so Safe Walks acts as “a little extra reassurance.”
Medaglia-Brown points out the apprehension of students calling University Police for escorting them home, but wants to make it clear, “This is a Safe Walk. We are not here to judge. We’re not going to ask you any questions, or anything you don’t want to talk about.”
The service runs from 10 pm to 2 am Thur., Fri., and Sat., during school weeks. It is totally confidential and will only require a pick up spot, phone number, and name. “We are not out to get you.. we are out here to get you from point A to point B,” Medaglia-Brown points out.
The program is now a part of Residential Life, but Medaglia-Brown hopes that the program will grow into a independent student organization.
As of right now the program will only walk with students on-campus. If request are made to walk to an off campus area Safe Walk will walk the party as close to the location as possible.
Any students interested in volunteering, or looking for safe walk, information is on the Plymouth State portal, as well as Orgsync. And of course, for a Safe Walk, call 603-254-6272 or 603-254-6165.