Campus Safety: A Shared Responsibility

With the new school year in full swing, campus is buzzing with activity. Whether you are in your first year at Baylor and are adjusting to new environments, activities and routines or you are reacclimating to campus life, the start of the fall semester is an important time to review campus safety. In fact, colleges and universities across the country use the month of September to recognize National Campus Safety Awareness Month (NCSAM) and FEMA’s National Preparedness Month. 

At Baylor, campus safety is a shared responsibility that is integral to our caring Christian community. A new video, “Awareness, Curiosity, Response: Keeping Campus Safe,” explores how faculty, staff and students can contribute to safety through situational awareness and emphasizes that caring for one another includes staying aware of our surroundings and knowing how to respond when necessary.

All members of the Baylor community are encouraged to watch the video, which outlines three practical strategies for situationally awareness: 

1. Engage with your environment. Stay alert to your surroundings — both outdoors and indoors. Notice when something may seem out of place, know where the exits are in buildings and know where to find campus call boxes.
2. Stay curious. Curiosity helps us tune into our environment and the wellbeing of those around us. If something feels off, trust your instincts and take action.
3. Observe with Empathy. Seeing the needs of others is a powerful way to demonstrate care and our community. Check in on classmates and roommates when you sense they are troubled. 

Hazing Prevention Training

Hazing undermines the physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing of individuals and contradicts the University’s values of integrity, service and respect for others. Whether it's subtle or severe, hazing divides, isolates and harms. It is never “just tradition.” It’s not a bonding experience. And it’s not welcome on our campus.

With laws around hazing changing in the past year, it is important for students, faculty and staff to fully understand how to prevent hazing and protect themselves, their organizations and the University. All faculty and staff who advise or work with student organizations are encouraged to review the hazing prevention training this fall in preparation for organizational activities and spring recruitment to ensure they are equipped to recognize, prevent, and appropriately respond to hazing behaviors. 

Students involved in Fraternity & Sorority Life – especially those in leadership roles – also are encouraged to review the hazing prevention training this fall as a part of their responsibilities in their organization. Visit baylor.edu/hazing to learn more. 

Safety Tools and Resources

• BU Campus Guardian 

  With the BU Campus Guardian app, a smartphone in your hand can quickly become a mobile safety device on the Baylor campus. The app provides several safety features available to all members of the Baylor community and connects individuals with the resources of the Baylor University Police Department (BUPD) right at their fingertips. 

  One of the most popular features of the app is the Safety Timer, which allows students to choose friends, family and even the Baylor Police Department to be their “guardians” through the BU Campus Guardian app. 

• Baylor Alert

  When an emergency arises on campus, the Baylor Alert system uses multiple forms of communication to help students, faculty and staff take action to remain safe. These include outdoor notification, email, text messages and notices on the Baylor website and social media channels. Be sure to register for Baylor Alert through Bearweb (students) or Ignite (employees).

• Equity, Civil Rights & Title IX Office

  Baylor University's Equity, Civil Rights, and Title IX Office provides training for students covering sexual misconduct, consent and bystander intervention, as well as custom training programs for students, faculty and staff on topics like self-defense and healthy relationships. Located on the second floor of Clifton Robinson Tower, the  Equity, Civil Rights, and Title IX Office also offers resources for reporting incidents of sexual misconduct through the Title IX office, supportive measures for those affected, and information on accessing on- and off-campus counseling, victim advocacy and law enforcement assistance.  

Additional Resources for Wellbeing and Prevention