Enough is Enough

Many thanks to guest bloggers and student leaders, Felicia Coffin & Natalia Santana, for this piece on campus safety and Enough is Enough Campaign Week.  

Having a college campus that spans around the Back Bay in the heart of Boston, we as students are living life in a non-conventional way. Academic and residential buildings are within walking distance to one another, but our neighbors are the residents of Boston, not traditional college students. While we live in a large, urban city, our campus is on the smaller side and we have had to adapt to living in a city. Enough is Enough is a national campaign led by many higher education institutions to promote peace and reducing violence. As student leaders, we want to work with our peers in stepping up and developing various prevention initiatives in making our community a safer place. As students, we are lucky to have a group of professional staff members who serve as the Safety Committee and come together throughout the year to discuss new ways for us to feel safe; always encouraging the buddy system at night, the college has also set up a system for students and staff to contact our security officer if they need any assistance. Bay State College goes out of its way to make sure the students are safe and feel comfortable in their community.

Student leaders are the voice for our campus, and not only advocate for ourselves, but all the students who attend Bay State College. Since starting at Bay State as students, we have both taken part in various student-run initiatives to make our campus a safer environment. This last fall, the Student Government Association hosted a Campus Safety Week where students were able to take part in the Head Phone Pledge, an initiative to stop wearing headphones while walking alone, and instead, be more aware of your surroundings. The Campus Safety Week also included a presentation by the Boston Police Department, Street Smarts: Reducing Your Odds, where students learn different ways of staying alert and aware.

This spring, we are having the annual Enough is Enough campaign week to promote non-violence and positive behavior in hopes that these will become the social normal. Students will have the opportunity to take back in the “These Hands Don’t Hurt” pledge, where students promise that their hands will never be used to hurt someone. The week also consists of students wearing black and white pins to promote the campaign as well as other awareness initiatives. Though small, these programs make a huge and beneficial impact to our campus culture. Everything student leaders do on campus is to better not only our college, but our community. We’re more than just students and leaders, we are Bay State.