(Photo by Mario Mendez)Paige Rowley, a business communication major, said she has always felt uncomfortable on campus, especially after she was attacked in the middle of the day.
“I heard someone running and looked behind me when a guy came up and put one hand on the back of my neck and one on my mouth,” Rowley said. “I just started screaming and fighting him back, and he ended up pushing me to the ground. I am terrified to walk alone.”
Although Rowley was able to escape and contact authorities, situations like this have caused ASU to find different outlets to create a safer campus.
The Tempe Undergraduate Student Government created the Safety Escort program, which picks students up between the hours of 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. and transports them to different places around campus, to fill a void that some students felt in their safety.
Chris Hollman, a senator for Tempe USG, said he believes that the Safety Escort program is an asset to the ASU campus.
"I find Safety Escort to be an extremely beneficial program for the student body," Hollman said. "It assists in keeping the campus safer, while creating student jobs."
Mark Cassell, a Safety Escort driver, is a huge advocate for this service and the benefits it brings to the campus.
“I think it’s very beneficial to students, because it offers a free service that is much safer than any cab company,” Cassell said. “I selected this job to better the ASU campus and make it a safer place for students.”
Cassell said he loves that he can help his fellow students and make sure everyone gets home safe.
Students recognize the hard work the safety escort workers put in and genuinely love the service they provide. Brittlyn Miller, a nutrition major, is a regular user of safety escort.
"I love safety escort," Miller said. "The workers are always super nice."
Although many students and workers believe that this program is beneficial to the student body, many others disagree. Mia Atkins, a communications major, no longer uses Safety Escort due to how long it took to pick her up.
“They need to be more efficient in timing, since it does take a long time for the car to actually show up,” Atkins said. “When I am scared on campus I don’t call Safety Escort. I call someone who can be there in time to actually save me from any danger that I may be in.”
Jessica Buffington, a marketing major, agrees with Atkins about how slow Safety Escort is as well as the danger that it can cause to students. However, Buffington said she believes she has a solution to help the program as well as increase the pick up and delivery time of students.
“ASU should hire more drivers and change the calling system,” Buffington said. “The drivers are given unregistered phone numbers, and the calls don’t always go through. That totally defeats the purpose if you can’t receive the call for your ride to find.”
Even Konnor Buscho, a worker at Safety Escort, said he understands they may need to increase their staff as the number of students increase. However, Buscho loves what he does and finds purpose in life when he gets his fellow students home safely.
“I have rescued people from the perils of Tempe,” Buscho said. “I feel extremely grateful when I get people home safely, because I have saved someone from possibly being harmed around campus.”
Reach the reporter at eaharri4@asu.edu or follow her on Twitter @lissabissa09
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