By Hannah Stafford, News Editor
In a recent report released by BackgroundChecks.org, Asbury University was listed as the number one, safest college in the state of Kentucky. According to Lane Report News, BackgroundChecks.org combined data from recent Department of Education Reports, natural language analysis, social media sentiment analysis and its own research to create the rankings. Most students are in consensus that Asbury is indeed a very safe place.
“I totally feel safe,” said senior Brooke Butterworth. “As a freshman, I wasn’t sure if I could walk in the dark alone. My mom was always telling me ‘carry a flashlight and pepper spray with you,’ but I’m a senior now and I feel completely safe at night walking back to the dorm.”
Junior Lisa Humason agreed that she feels much safer here than she would on other college campuses, something she attributes to both the size of campus as well as the security staff.
“It’s just such a small town and because the campus is small, I know that if I were to be in a [threatening] situation, any student would help,” she said. “I don’t really have that much interaction with them [campus security] but I know they sometimes sit by the road between McCreless and Miller, which I really appreciate. A lot of times I come back from rehearsal or editing late at night in Miller and it’s nice to see them there.”
Colleges from larger Kentucky cities such as University of Louisville, University of Kentucky and Kentucky State University, ranked tenth, twenty-first and twenty-third respectively.
The small town atmosphere is also why junior Bry Staed said she feels safe on campus.
“Because the campus is so small, if anything were to happen, if I were to scream out, someone would definitely hear and come to help,” she said. “Plus, [campus security] is present enough on campus that you just see them around and get to know them. That’s something I think you definitely don’t get at some of the bigger colleges.”
Head of campus security David Hay also points to the community of Asbury as a reason why the campus is safe. “I believe the quality of the Asbury community (students, faculty, and staff) are the primary reason the campus crime statistics are lower than other colleges in the state,” Hay said. “In addition, Student Development does a great job of mentoring and being involved in the lives of students, fostering appreciation and respect for others, which are protective factors concerning crime.”
Junior Joshua Bowman said that while he does feel safe on campus, he does have one concern regarding security.
[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]I believe the quality of the Asbury community (students, faculty, and staff) are the primary reason the campus crime statistics are lower than other colleges in the state.[/perfectpullquote]
“The only thing that has me concerned is that there is nobody here on campus who has firearms at all — not even the security guards — so we’re completely dependent upon the Wilmore Police Department and the response-time that comes with that,” Bowman said. He continues on to say that he has the utmost confidence in Wilmore’s police department and Asbury’s emergency protocol.
Butterworth went on to explain that the relationship between Asbury and the city of Wilmore is also comforting.
“There aren’t sketchy people around here,” she said. “There aren’t any travelers coming through because it’s a small town. It’s not a big city, surrounded by lots of businesses and things that aren’t school. When you’re on campus, you’re on campus.”
