Oberlin CollegeHealth & Safety Summary

Written by Veronica Colegrove

Veronica Colegrove

Hometown

Cincinnati, Ohio

Major

Latin/Computer science

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Perhaps because Oberlin is such a small town, people tend to take for granted that serious crimes rarely ever happen. Still, the College’s Of?ce of Safety and Security has done everything possible to ensure that the campus is extremely safe. Emergency phones are attached to blue-light posts all around campus, and the Student Shuttle System allows students who feel either unsafe to walk or too inebriated to drive from running into trouble. Most female students attest to feeling very safe when they walk across campus late at night, especially because all paths and streets tend to be well lit and free of bushes or trees. All dorms require ID cards to enter, and as a result of the general feeling of security, many students don’t always feel the need to lock their doors.

One of the main problems that occurs on campus is theft, mostly in places like Mudd Library or Wilder Bowl, where students often leave their belongings unattended for long periods of time. Safety and Security of?cers generally do a very good job of tracking down stolen items and, for the most part, students tend not to steal from other students. Even so, Safety and Security encourages students to register their bicycles with the school in case they are stolen, and then turn up a week later in the town creek—which has been known to happen before.