I know as an incoming student there are some things at the top of your mind, where are my classes? Will I have people to eat and study with? Will I get invited to hang out on the weekends? But there are some things that aren’t always at the top of our minds. Will I be safe at school? This may not be at the forefront of our minds as students, but may be a concern of our over protective parents. As a senior I want to reassure you (or your parents) on these concerns.
Will I be safe?
While I can’t give a blanket statement or guarantee the future I will say that in my time at Christopher Newport there were two times that I didn’t feel safe which I will explain and discuss ways in which I was reassured and felt safe. CNU takes great strides to make sure our campus is secure and all student safety needs are met.
My sophomore year there was suspicious activity on campus early in the morning that lead to a university-wide lock down. While at first I was startled and scared because I lived in the Greek row houses, I was quickly updated by the university’s emergency system of what was occurring and how to keep myself safe. Because I didn’t live in a main building and didn’t have an RA directly in my residence the emergency notifications helped keep me calm and up to do date as the situation was resolved.
The second incident occurred my senior year in my residence. I was trying to fall asleep and between one and two in the morning I thought I heard my kitchen chairs moving. I stopped breathing and waited to see if I heard it again. I hear the same sound and immediately texted my roommate to see if she was, one: awake, and two: in the kitchen. She was awake but not in the kitchen. I told her I thought someone was in the house and of course we both were freaked out. I called my sorority sister who is an RA and lived diagonally from me and asked if she could see any movement in my kitchen because I thought there was someone in the house. She said she couldn’t and that I should call CNU PD to come and investigate because it’s better to be safe than sorry. As crazy as it sounds I called CNU PD and they responded within five minutes. They reassured us we weren’t crazy for calling them and that no one was in the apartment beside ourselves, checking in every closet and room for us. Although we’re college students and don’t need our parents to look under our beds for monsters anymore, we do have campus police to make sure we are safe, even if it turns out to be nothing at all.
I would strongly claim that CNU is a very safe campus. All student IDs have CNU PD’s emergency number printed on the back and there are alert boxes in every building on campus that can contact emergency personnel should a situation arise. Additionally RAs and other student workers go through training for emergency situations. We have a great health center that not only caters to the common cold but has a counseling center that can help with different mental health needs, both provide services to keep Captains safe and healthy. Our school also has a very active Title IX department that helps to cover different issues on campus. Furthermore, our staff and faculty are always working to improve systems, conditions, and policy to adapt and care for the students in the most effective way possible.
When it comes to safety on campus Christopher Newport takes great precaution to make sure students are cared for. If you or someone you know is in need of safety services please refer to the following list:
Sign Up for CNU Alerts here.
