Safety Beyond the Bubble
Brittany Worthington Staff Writer
Sunday, October 21st, two unrelated murders occurred in Kalamazoo, one on Cedar Street, the other at an apartment complex off of Stadium Drive. While police arrested both suspects, these violent crimes cause concern for Kalamazoo College students living off-campus.
I’ve definitely had friends or at least have heard stories about students getting their cars broken into or their house broken into and their TV stolen or something like that. So while I haven’t had any personal issues because I luckily live extremely close to campus, even though I’m off-campus, in a more safe area than maybe some of the other students, I definitely think it’s something people should be concerned about. Because a lot of time students are studying late having to walk at night and definitely as a girl walking alone at night in the streets of Kalamazoo, I don’t know if I feel comfortable.
-Jessica Hoffmann K’13 (Off-campus)
I think on campus it’s safer. I mean, I lived off campus since I came back from study abroad. And sometimes I get so paranoid that I will ask security for a ride to go home. But they usually don’t give rides homes off campus. I think they should be aware of students that live in other areas because we’re still K College students so if something were to happen, that would be on the college, I think.
-Carline Dugue K’13 (Off-campus)
I think the school should let students know when crime happens, even if it’s not on-campus. They already know they have a lot of students living off-campus so that would be very helpful. I also think that having a night patrol, or some kind of arrangement that walks people home would be helpful, especially for girls.
-Renjie Song K’13 (Off-campus)
I didn’t hear anything about [the murders] and I would have really appreciated some sort of notification, not just out of safety, but out of respect. I think it’s good for those of us who live [off-campus] and [on-campus] to be aware.
-Amanda Patton K’13 (Off-campus)
