The Long Walk Home

Last night, as I made the trek from down by the river back to my refuge in the Quad, I felt completely vulnerable. No one else was around. I tried to remind myself that I was by a college campus in Cambridge, not exactly what one might consider a hot spot for late night crime. I could not help but quicken my pace.

Walking towards the Quad in the dark, I imagined what a student would do if faced with a threatening situation. Late at night, there is no place to escape to, and no blue emergency lights within sight. Many students chose to take the short cut through Cambridge Commons, and although the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) has acknowledged that many “incidents” occur in the park every year, not a single emergency box exists there to date. The street lighting is practically worthless, and few cars and even fewer people pass within hearing distance. Walking alone, late at night, I—and my fellow Quadlings—are often left with no sense of security whatsoever. Something needs to change.

While the Harvard police station used to be located on Garden Street, the building went under construction last year. Now no police units are currently positioned along the way. When I asked a HUPD officer when the reconstruction was expected to be completed, he gave a slight chuckle and sarcastically asked me when I was graduating. This renovation not only removed the reassuring presence of the police, but one of the path’s few emergency lights as well. In the past, if a student ever found him or herself in a threatening situation, this emergency light functioned as a direct link to the Harvard police. Now this protection no longer exists. The station and emergency light once provided a sense of security to late night walkers. Their current absence makes the trek all the more unsafe.

It might be easy to dismiss this safety concern by listing off campus services such as the shuttle as an alternative to walking. But this overlooks the real issue. The late night shuttle only comes every 25 to 30 minutes, again leaving a student alone and vulnerable on a street corner. Many students ignore this option because they cannot afford to waste half an hour waiting for the next pick-up. The reality is, students will continue to make the walk regardless of other options; they need and deserve convenient, timely access to all areas on campus.

The University must not wait for something terrible to happen before taking action and installing more emergency boxes. Harvard has the responsibility to ensure our safety. A history of low crime rates should not suffice for our sense of personal security. Right now a potential criminal could easily target a half asleep, spaced-out student trudging back to his or her dorm late at night. By adding more police lights, it would not only help to save someone in danger, but also keep potential harm away. The emergency lights give students a direct link to security and the comforting awareness that help is just a quick button press away.

There is no reason why the University should not fix this problem immediately. The University should work with the city of Cambridge to negotiate installing more lights, and the cost of a couple of emergency boxes is well worth the added sense of security they will provide. This is not an issue of aesthetics or budget. This critical safety concern should supersede bureaucratic impediments. With the constant stress students feel from papers, problem sets and other commitments, the last thing we need to worry about is making it back to our dorm in one piece.