By Nick Amon–
In recent years here at U of L, safety has become a primary concern for students and faculty alike. Crimes ranging all the way from muggings and small thefts, to stabbings and abductions, it’s become apparent that a solution must be met with this increasing issue of crime and safety around our campus.
Over the past week, discussion regarding the infamous ‘L Trail’ President Ramsey mentioned this past fall semester has been brought to the forefront of U of L’s safety concerns, turning this idea into a tangible reality that can finally provide students with a breath of fresh air.
The ‘L Trail’ is actually an SGA initiative that has been in the works since the 2011-2012 academic year. Former Services Vice President Cara Monaco, who graduated from U of L in 2012, says she campaigned on the platform of creating a safe walking path on campus. At the time, the project was initially called the ‘Flight Path.’
The safe walk initiative was mandated in SGA’s Student 2020 Plan. According to SGA’s website, the student government composed the Student 2020 Plan based on nearly 1,000 student surveys. It was revised and passed unanimously by the student senate in 2013.
Morgan Cooksey, the current SGA services vice president, decided to pick the project back up again during her 2014-2015 term. Cooksey and the safety committee of SGA senators and executive staff worked closely with ULPD to research the project.
The Inter-fraternity Council put forward a $5,000 donation – the first funding directed specifically towards for the ‘L Trail’ – in December. Now, SGA plans to put forward about half of the $43,000 cost of the project, and the university has pledged the other half.
Monaco says that there are a number of reasons why it has taken three years for students to see the first installations of a safety walk on campus.
“Besides just money and general campus politics, each Top Four has their priorities. The path had been mine, but that doesn’t mean anyone had to finish it.”
In addition to the initial lack of funding from the university for the project, here lies a fundamental problem in the Student Government Association: the lack of accountability. Our student representatives can pour their heart and souls into a project for an entire year, only for the plan to be swept aside by either the incoming SGA or the university administration after graduation.
When Ramsey emailed students, faculty and parents about plans for the ‘L Trail’ in September after a student was stabbed near campus, the initiative became not only a SGA responsibility, but also a university-wide responsibility.
It has been seven months since Ramsey’s email, and what can be seen as jokingly the campus received its first set of five brighter bulbs this past Wednesday.
Though it has been a significant amount of time between the stabbing this fall and the ‘L Trail’ talks, nothing definitively suggests that the university or the administration is deliberately trying to forestall safety initiatives. In fact, the ULPD has hired more officers and security personal after the discussion about campus safety began in the fall.
Unfortunately for spring breakers stuck on campus a couple weeks ago, The ‘L Trail’ was not yet of their immediate disposal. When asked whether or not the recent Rave alerts over the break brought up the conversation about the trail’s construction Cooksey had to say this, “I think so. And I think that it is unfortunate that, in any type of public administration, that crisis is usually an instigator, and policy usually comes after the crisis.”
When the administration makes safety initiatives like the ‘L Trail’ a priority only after multiple Rave alerts over spring break reignite the conversation, the administration is failing students. From the early fall until this week, the campus has remained in the dark about plans for the ‘L Trail.’
Some projects take more than one academic year to research, accumulate funds and install. When it comes to something as important as campus safety, it shouldn’t take abductions and stabbings to spark the energy back into a project like the ‘L Trail.’ Students deserve not only a safe way to walk back to their dorms or cars at night, but the piece of mind that comes along with knowing their safety is of the upmost importance in the minds of the administration.
As we approach the end of this academic year and welcome a new group of SGA representatives, students need to hold their senators, executive board, and Top Four accountable. With backing from vocal student constituents, the SGA would have more power to pressure the university on important issues, such as campus safety.
Altogether, it’s unfortunate that it takes the life of students to come in risk in order for change to take place regarding our university’s safety initiative. Though the ‘L Trail’ will be a great step in the direction of diminishing U of L’s crime and safety concerns, these same concerns will still exist nonetheless; let’s just hope next time it doesn’t take a Rave alert to snap us back into the reality of our surroundings.
