A look at what makes the U of G campus so safe for its students

Nicole Elsasser

While Guelph is a safe city in which to live and study, the U of G campus feels even more so. The U of G prioritizes the safety of its students by having services in place to ensure that students are comfortable moving about the campus.

The first service in place is the U of G Campus Police. The office of Campus Police is located centrally on campus just behind Johnston Hall and has officers patrolling the campus by foot, bike and car every hour of every day. They can also be reached quickly in an emergency by dialing extension 2000 on any campus phone.

Another service in place to ensure campus safety is something called SafeWalk. According to SafeWalk program coordinator, David Nguyen, this kind of program is very unique to the U of G campus and is totally operated by student volunteers.

“We are one of few universities that offer a SafeWalk service that operates from 7:30pm to 2:30am every single night, regardless of the weather,” said Nguyen.

Nguyen explained that if a student would like to be walked anywhere on campus during the operating times, SafeWalk volunteers can be reached at extension 53200.

On top of both of those services, there are several blue emergency phones located across campus and each of these can put a concerned student in touch with either SafeWalk, if an escort is required, or the campus police directly.

As much as the U of G campus is a pretty safe place to be, these services certainly go the extra mile in ensuring that students new and old can move about the campus comforted in the knowledge that they’re being looked out for.