The rise in hate crimes on campus this semester has induced feelings of insecurity, and Public Safety officials and concerned students are working to remedy the problem by developing a student-operated escort system. Both hope that a new student-run escort system will be more popular and expect that hired students will attract more "customers."
"One goal is obviously to improve the escort service, but also improve the publicity because many people don't know an escort system exists," said Margery Yeager, the co-chair of the Tufts Community Union Senate's Culture, Ethnicity, and Community Affairs committee. Yeager has been working with Public Safety official Sonia Rodriguez to establish the service.
The logistics of the system are not etched in stone, but the current plan is that there will be two students on call each night - one stationed at Dowling Hall and another at the Campus Center. The individual who is closest to the student requesting assistance will be signaled via walkie-talkie.
Many students believe the new system will serve the community well, especially in light of the numerous hate crimes that have occurred this semester.
"In guaranteeing students an available escort, I think tragedy can be more easily averted," said Michael Shoenfeld, who was a victim of an ethnic-related crime.
"Personally, I generally feel pretty safe walking around this campus, but since the hate crimes have happened, I definitely do think twice about walking alone at night," sophomore Laura Horwitz said.
However, there are some students who feel that the new escort service will not improve the perceptions of safety on campus because few will take advantage of it. "I don't think the enactment of a student-escort system will make a difference one way or the other," Mihran Yenikomshian said.
Yeager said that the escorts would be easily identifiable on campus and that the application process, which is just beginning, will be strenuous.
"The people will be screened so they won't be random people," she said. "There will be a screening process and a criminal background check by the police."
The wage paid to students who serve in this position will be greater than the campus minimum wage, but a precise amount has not been determined. In the past, students earned as much as $10 an hour for providing a related service for the Tufts community. Most likely, the service will be funded within the existing Public Safety budget and, if needed, officials said they are willing to cut excess costs in order to provide the necessary funds.
In order to guarantee a sufficient student labor force to enact this newly proposed system, Director of Public Safety John King has expressed a willingness to pay students a liberal sum of money. "A lot of schools around the country already have [voluntary] student-escort systems," he said. "You wonder what would happen if the students were paid."
