A number of municipal services and student groups collaborated today to hold a safety event in the Athletics and Recreation Centre.

Hosted by the Campus Safety Working Group, the event aimed to provide students with information about how to be and feel safer at home.

“Safety precautions are small steps that, when taken, increase not only a student’s sense of comfort off campus but also decrease the likelihood of time away from academics to deal with preventable problems,” says Joan Jones, Student Community Relation Coordinator and a member of the Campus Safety Working Group. “There are many campus and community partners who want to help keep students safe. 

Among those attending were Campus Security, which promoted the the campus safety app, SeQUre, and the Alma Mater Society’s Municipal Affairs Commission. They promoted both the Housing Grievance Centre, a confidential space where students can share their concerns about current or potential housing situations, and SPADE, a peer-to-peer service where trained student inspectors will visit student homes to identify property standards violations.

“Student safety is an important issue in the University District,” says Ariel Gonzalez, Artsci ’16 and the AMS’s Municipal Affairs Commissioner. “Many students are first-time tenants and learning how to feel safer in their homes helps improve quality of life and reduces unnecessary stresses.”

Representatives from Kingston Police Services were also present, offering general information, while Utilities Kingston provided advice about using exterior lighting to improve environmental safety.