Safe Walk Ushers in New Era for Student Safety

The community-level initiative launched on Oct. 15.

Safe Walk, an ASG-sponsored pilot program that allows students to request accompaniment on nighttime walks home, launched two weeks ago.

The service is available Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. Students are able to request a walk to any location on-campus or nearby by dialing (408) 554-4410.

Safe Walk only received a couple of calls in its inaugural week but expects to receive more requests as awareness grows for the initiative, according to sophomore Mia Smith, who is one of the program’s first Safe Walkers.

The program is based in the ASG office of the Locatelli Student Activity Center. When the dispatcher receives a call, two walkers, one of each gender identity, head to the location of the caller and walk them wherever they need to go.

All walkers were required to undergo a two-day training program led by the Assistant Directors of the Wellness Center, Bree Van Ness and Tiger Simpson. The training prepared walkers for situations they are likely to encounter on the job and how to best support the individuals they are walking back.

Smith made clear that requesting a walk is confidential and will not result in a student facing consequences for alcohol or drug use.

“The Santa Clara Police Department, Campus Security, and all of the CFs know that we are doing this,” she said. “If they see somebody who is inebriated and is with a Safe Walker, they cannot stop you and ask you if you're drunk; they can’t write you up.”

Former ASG Senator Ann Codiga originally proposed the idea, but the project was passed on to current ASG President Abigail Alvarez when Codiga was elected as Vice President for the 2020-21 school year.

Alvarez spent last year writing a business plan and consulting with different interest groups such as the Wellness Center, Campus Safety Services and the EMTs to assemble a task force and make Safe Walk a reality.

The program was later handed over to Izzy Dachs, Senator-at-Large for Greek Life Relations, who directed the launch of Safe Walk and has since managed its day to day operations. Dachs is optimistic that Safe Walk will help bridge the divide between Greek Life and Campus Safety.

Safe Walk was originally intended to be under Campus Safety’s oversight, but instead pivoted to become an peer-to-peer program where students could volunteer to become a part of the initiative. Alvarez said that this change was made after the alleged racial profiling incident involving campus safety in August of 2020.

Alvarez hopes that this sort of community level care will create a culture shift that will pay dividends for student life at Santa Clara. “I think it’s going to create a culture where not only people feel safer, but they also feel that their peers are willing to take care of each other,” she said.

Alvarez also emphasized that Safe Walk is not supposed to be a violence prevention tool or something that will singlehandedly solve rape culture on campus, but rather a resource that will help people feel safer and more comfortable on and off-campus.

Smith felt compelled to participate as a walker when she heard about Safe Walk. “I knew that this program was super necessary — even if people were scared to use it at first. Having the option of someone to walk you home if you are feeling unsafe makes a world of difference,” she said.

Sophomore Austin Ngo, who worked the first shift, jumped at the opportunity to become a walker. Ngo was excited “to meet new people, form new relationships, and be a great leader around campus.” He also knew that his efforts would have a tangible impact on student safety.

Ngo believes that freshman and other dormitory residents are more aware of the program than those living off-campus. He stressed that walkers are able to pick up callers and accompany them to destinations surrounding campus.

Although Safe Walk has only been operational for roughly two weeks, organizers are working to make it a resource for years to come. Dachs said that a group of students who were assigned to make an app for a class decided to partner with Safe Walk to create a new platform where individuals could solicit walk requests, similar to Uber. The team of students has already begun coding and is working to finish the app by winter quarter.

“Hopefully during freshman orientation we get all the freshmen to download this app and you can just request a walk instead of having to call,” Dachs said.

Although the future looks bright for Safe Walk, it is currently being financed through the student government with a pilot program fund which can only be used for a year. This means that it will need to be funded by a different department after the 2021-22 school year.