A look into what CMU offers as safety measures and precautions for students on campus
Safety on campus is a very important concern for students looking at universities. Colorado Mesa University (CMU) has many resources in case of emergency. Students should know what they are and how to respond correctly.
The Report-It button in Mavzone is often the first option students are told about. In the event that students either feel unsafe or believe that someone else may be in a potentially harmful situation, they can utilize this option. Using this button allows students to remain anonymous.
The Director of Campus Security and Student Conduct Pua Utu talked about what programs the school offers for the safety of students.
“So we do a lot […] for students in particular. We have the safe walk program. And you can call the safe walk number at any time between 6:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. and some students will show up and walk you from the library to your residence hall or from residence hall to residence hall. The Safe-Walk is year-round on campus if you need it,” Utu said.
The other major program available is Mav Rides. It is a late night shuttle service that can be reached at (970)248-2222 and operates Thursday through Sunday from 9:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. The org will dispatch a vehicle that runs students both to and from campus.
Although students may hesitate to utilize MavRides for fear of being caught doing illegal activities, the objective of the org is to ensure the safety of students especially over the weekends when there tends to be more time to enjoy everything that the Grand Valley has to offer.
CMU also has a long standing contract with the Grand Junction Police Department. Currently there are five police officers on campus whose main priority is to maintain the security of the students.
President of Student Services Jody Diers spoke about the need to foster a strong relationship between the police and the community. In an effort to do just that the university holds many events with opportunities to meet the officers. The goal of these events is to build trust and strong relationships.
“[If] you know an officer, you’re more likely to go have a conversation with them,” said Diers.
The officers on campus can be reached through the non-emergency help number at (970)242-6707. However in the event of an emergency, students should call 911, rather than the non-emergency line.
“If [students] are seeing suspicious activity, concerning behaviors or even infrastructure things that are not working properly [or] lighting issues they can report that as well. Either through that line of communication or just by calling student services to report those issues,” said Utu.
All of these services and more are listed and have contact info available in most buildings on campus as well as online. In bathrooms, on mirrors and on doors, magnets with phone numbers to each safety service offered to students by CMU is readily available for anyone who needs it.
