Utah Valley University (UVU) is many things: an engaged university that allows students to experience potential careers in a more hands-on way, a diverse community that offers many flavors of education that students can try, and more. UVU can make its Wolverines feel accomplished, driven, overwhelmed by mountains of homework, but does UVU’s campus feel safe to them? The UVU Review conducted a campus safety survey on Feb. 13 and asked a wide pool of Wolverines, ranging from Business Majors all the way to members of the Humanities Program, how they felt while being on campus. To the relief of The Review, and the relief of the school, the answer was for the most part, a resounding yes.
When asked why she felt safe on campus, UVU student Ashlyn said, “it helps that there are always a lot of people around, I feel like if something was gonna happen, I could just yell and someone would be around the corner.” Additionally, some survey participants mentioned the UVU Police and how they had a positive experience whenever they interacted with an officer on campus. “I’ve spoken with the Campus Police before and they’re very nice and helpful about everything,” stated Adam, another UVU student. Adam, like many of the Wolverines that were interviewed, enjoys spending time in the Fulton Library here on campus.
“I’ve never felt unsafe on campus,” remarked Business Major Cody. Cody, unlike Adam, spends more of his time in the nearby Clarke Building as many of his classes are located there. On the more humane side of things, when asked about how she felt on campus, Humanities Major Katlyn had this to say, “It feels especially safe in the LA Building and the CB Building and the Gunther Technology Building, I don’t really go into other parts of it, but I feel incredibly safe there.” When asked where she likes to spend most of her time on campus, Katlyn remarked that she enjoys spending her time in the library and in the art department. However, when asked if there’s any place on campus where she doesn’t feel safe, she said that going between campus and the train station can be a little precarious, “Sometimes going between the campus and the train station is a little bit dangerous, and part of that could be that it’s not super defined where someone’s able to walk versus where they’re not able to walk, but it is better than previous semesters.” When asked what she would want to see happen to that area, Katlyn stated that she would appreciate a sidewalk, as it would save time as opposed to taking the nearby lift across.
Overall, the students interviewed feel more than safe here and find positive experiences wherever they go throughout UVU. No college is perfect, but UVU and your fellow Wolverines are here for you to ensure that you feel safe while you’re here at Utah Valley University.
