Berea CollegeHealth & Safety Summary

Written by Gerald Fitts

Gerald Fitts

Hometown

Birmigham, Ala.

Major

Sociology and African & African American Studies

View all previous student authors

The College’s safety team, the Department of Public Safety, is in charge of responding to all emergencies that happen on the campus, but unfortunately, there's no comparison of Berea's Public Safety to an actual police force. Public Safety does not have the quickest response times, and the officers don’t have the proper devices to truly protect students or themselves in a threatening situation. For example, the officers don’t carry weapons or even handcuffs, so if a threatening person showed up on campus, there would be no way for Public Safety to properly and safely immobilize the person.

Girls are advised to never walk by themselves at night and to have a male companion with them when walking on campus. Overall, students are not satisfied with the efforts of Public Safety. Luckily, though, the criminal activity in this area is extremely low compared to the rest of the state and the U.S. in general, so the chance of an actual violent crime happening is low. When it comes to a student’s health, the campus health service center is accessible during the week and is sometimes helpful.