Dear Students,
First, we want to thank all of you who participated in the activities during Campus Safety Week. Winthrop is committed to providing a safe and secure learning environment, and we want everyone to be active participants in helping us keep it that way. During our safety and security forums last year, participants told us it would be helpful if we provide an annual update of steps taken each year to improve campus safety. To that end, we are reaching out to provide an update on steps taken as a result of the safety and security forums. Among the actions taken to date…
· Additional campus lighting assessment and repairs in the vicinity of the West Center and DiGiorgio Campus Center, areas of concern that arose in the forums.
· A CSL town hall that included representatives from campus departments responsible for various safety and security measures.
· Redesign of active aggressor fliers in classrooms and offices to reflect “Run. Hide. Fight.” instruction from the FBI.
· Planning and implementation of the inaugural Campus Safety Week in September where several hundred individuals participated in a variety of activities related to safety. As a part of the week, we tested systems that help us stay secure.
· Campus Police presentations, “Surviving When Your Campus Comes Under Attack,” offered as part of Campus Safety Week and by request for a variety of offices across campus.
· Safety videos featuring student leaders offering tips on how to be safe on and off campus.
· Social media postings (tips and graphics) from a variety of areas of campus on how students, in particular, can stay safe.
· Re-establishment of the Campus Police bike patrol program.
· Creation of a hashtag-- #WinthropCampusSafety365 --for information on upcoming safety and security events.
Many of these activities involved members of the university’s cross-campus Critical Incident Management Team which meets monthly and is responsible for managing Winthrop’s response to a variety of incidents. This team also completed a table top exercise in August with York County Emergency Management personnel, led by deputy director Mike Channell.
We will continue to provide updates on what Winthrop is doing in this area. We encourage anyone with ideas on how we can provide a safer and more secure campus to contact one of us or Shelia Burkhalter/Justin Oates, co-chairs of the CIMT, to share your thoughts. Thanks and let’s continue to stay safe out there!
Sincerely,
Dan Mahony
President
Imani Belton
Chair of the Council of Student Leaders
