For Immediate Release
Nov. 13, 2003
 

MUW starts W Watch program
 

By Jill D. O’Bryant

COLUMBUS, Miss. -- Mississippi University for Women has started a  student escort service called W Watch in an effort to make the campus an even safer place for students.

More than a dozen MUW students are employed with the W Watch Program,  which runs from 6 p.m. until 12:30 a.m. Sunday through Thursday. Three students are on duty each night.

“W Watch will help us to maintain the safe and secure environment that we work to provide for our students,” said Dr. Bucky Wesley, vice president for student services.

According to Calvin Sellers, MUW’s chief of police, the students’ primary responsibility is to escort students and others from one location on campus to another. They also check buildings that are supposed to be locked.

“I am grateful to Dr. (Claudia) Limbert (MUW’s president) for making this program possible,” Sellers said. “It was her dedication that brought this program back.”

The program, which was used many years ago under another name, started again Tuesday night with more than 85 escorts being made the first two nights. Sellers said the students are not waiting in the office to be called upon. He said they are out on campus looking for students who need assistance.

Lesley Norwood, a sophomore from Brandon, used the service after a meeting on campus.

“I used an escort because I had no one to walk with,” she said. “I feel that this is a safe campus, but I sometimes feel a little uncomfortable at night.”

The students on duty have radios and flashlights, and they wear reflective vests. They also have access to a golf cart in case of bad weather or to assist a disabled person.

This program is supported by MUW’s Police Department, which includes full-time patrol officers, traffic controllers, gate dispatchers and office personnel.

 

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