$1.25 Million Committed to Improving Campus Safety

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 14, 2005) − University of Kentucky President Lee T. Todd Jr. today announced that UK is dedicating more than $1.25 million this academic year – about four times what was spent last year – toward improving campus safety.

The initiative – part of what Todd is calling the “Campus Safety Imperative” – springs from a more than eight months of work by a broad task force commissioned by the president to study the issue of violence against women on campus and make recommendations.

The task force was launched by the President last year following release of findings from a victimization survey conducted at UK with 1,010 female graduate and undergraduate students. The study, conducted by the UK Center for Research on Violence Against Women, measured the prevalence of victimization among female students, their fear of crime, university response, and related items.

“The University of Kentucky chooses to take on the issue of violence against women, not just because it is a social issue or a justice issue, but because it has a central effect on students’ ability to achieve their potential while here on this campus,” Todd said. “Every person on this campus -- students, faculty, and staff – must be afforded the opportunity to live free from fear.”

Todd said the money will fund the following programs:

·        An extensive education and prevention program that will reach more than 7,000 students this fall. 

·        A fully operational center – UK Women’s Place – to give students who have been victimized a centralized location to receive information and help. The Women’s Place’s budget is being increased to fund a victim assistance coordinator and to create a special fund to aid student victims with crisis needs, including housing, food, transportation, home security, and other related items.

·        The addition of one new police officer for the UK Police Department.

·        Three new student organizations will be created to address violence against women, including one focused on creating a role for male students.

·        Creation of a centralized walkway through campus – a “Cats Path” with special signage -- that will be prioritized for lighting and landscape improvements and special patrols by the UK Police Department.

·        Allocation of $420,000 in additional funding for improved lighting and landscaping to enhance safety across campus. 

·        Significant improvements in residence hall security including the addition of 39 emergency phones, 60 door access controls and 240 security cameras.

·        Extensive training for many of UK’s “front line responders,” including campus law enforcement, therapists in UK-affiliated clinics and nurses. 

·        Enhanced health and mental health services for victims.

“We use the word “imperative” to describe the UK initiative to address women’s safety in order to signify the level of importance of the work we must do” said Carol Jordan, director of UK’s Center for Research on Violence Against Women.   “These reforms are, however, just a beginning.  If we are to reach top 20 status, and if on that path we are to care about the well-being of every single student and the welfare of this overall institution, then we must be innovative, aggressive and enduring in our response to violence against women.  On behalf of our students, we can do no less.”