Kent State’s safety resources start with the 50 blue light phones that are located around campus for students to use when they are in crisis along with other safety assets Kent State provides to ensure safety on campus.

“We have approximately 50 blue light phones across campus, typically in parking lots and walkways, a mass notification system throughout campus-inside and outside of the buildings [and a] student escort program,” Kent State Police Sergeant Tricia Knoles said. “Any group on campus can call to request an officer to come to their meeting to give a safety presentation and ask questions.”

Knoles said she has two daughters currently on campus and she feels Kent State is very safe.

“The last time that we were rated by an independent company, they rated us the safest campus in Ohio and 25th in the nation,” Knoles said. “They got their statistics from the FBI National Crime Statistics and Campus Surveys.”

Kent State University wants to continue to provide a strong sense of safety in light of the four students who died at the University of Idaho on Nov. 13, 2023, according to Knoles.

“We are continuing to put safety as our number one priority, we patrol various ways for the most visibility so that students can feel safe,” Knoles said. “We patrol in cruisers, on foot and even have a bicycle patrol when the weather is nice.”

Angelia Kellhofer is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].