'I hope that we are never in that kind of situation'

Zainab Naaz, a first-year international student from India, studies biomedical sciences. Naaz said she has family in Michigan, which is why she chose to attend CMU. Her mother felt more comfortable with her being closer to family in the case of an emergency. 

Emily Lang is a fourth-year political science student at CMU. Originally from Deerfield, Lang said she came to CMU because she liked the campus and students. As a freshman, Lang said that she had no safety concerns about being on campus, but after the MSU shooting, she is unsure of CMU’s ability to prevent something similar from happening. 

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Central Michigan Life spoke with Naaz and Lang to ask them how they felt about safety at CMU.  

How well do you think CMU handles safety on campus? 

Lang: Not very well. I feel like whenever there's like an incident on campus, even if it ends up not being that serious, ... it's not taken that seriously at all. Last week, CMU was the last school in the state to put out a statement about what happened at MSU, even though we're probably one of the closest schools to MSU. 

I feel like there's some things they do okay, like stuff with the dorms. They do okay like trying to keep the dorms locked down and stuff, but everything else I feel like (is) not that great. 

Naaz: It's been a month (on campus) for me, so I am not the most aware about it. Even the MSU thing has been a very first experience for me, so I don't know how colleges normally would act in those situations. After the MSU thing happened, we did receive emails about mental health and if we felt a little unsafe so we could come talk about it and I thought that was really nice for the college to do.

How does safety at CMU compare to your hometown? 

Naaz: I was raised in Oman since I was 5 months old. Over there, their safety is, I would say, really nice -- you can walk out of your house alone late at night, compared to what I would say in India is not that good. In India, if you're a girl and there are a lot of men, it's not the most safe place for you to just walk out anytime you want. 

Lang: I would say I almost feel safer in my hometown, but I think it's because I'm in my own house. Last year, I lived in Deerfield, which is like the apartment where a bunch of other stuff has happened before, so sometimes I don't really feel as safe here as I would in my hometown.

How do you think CMU promotes safety on campus? Do you think they do a good job with it? 

Lang: I feel like the most they do is the little Central Alert things. They have scanning IDs to get into dorms and I feel like that's the extent of what they do. Anyone, at any time, can walk into any of the class buildings. I feel like normal people shouldn't have the ability to just walk into those buildings.

Naaz: There could be more (security) of the halls and buildings that you have classes in. Practically everybody has access to it (so) that you can just enter at ease. I think in terms of dorms, it's pretty safe because they're well protected and you can only enter if you're a student.

How do you think walking to class everyday affects students' safety around campus? 

Naaz: It hasn't felt unsafe or something like that. I kind of like it that way. ... My classes are pretty close ... (and the class times) I get are 9 in the morning. There's a lot of crowd, a lot of students, so it's not like it's pretty abandoned or like an off time of the day.

Lang: I don't really know. I feel like walking to class depends on whether you're walking ... during the day when a bunch of people are walking everywhere. Busy hours for class it's fine, but when you have night classes and you have to walk to and from your night classes on campus it’s kinda scary.

In the case of a mass shooting on campus, how well do you feel CMU would handle the situation?

Lang: I feel like it would be handled pretty similarly to how MSU police handled it.

Naaz: I wouldn't know much but I hope that we are never in that kind of situation. If we are, I think if you're within your dorms, probably it's safe. But I'm really concerned about if I'm in my lecture because that was the situation at MSU.

How do you think the Blue Light Emergency Phones around campus affect students' safety?

Lang: I just feel like nobody uses those. 

Naaz: (She was previously unaware of the system): We need more awareness about legacy, especially for international students and freshmen who have come from outside ... so that we are more aware about safety protocols and things. ... That would be nicer for us.

Has there been an instance where you did not feel safe on campus? 

Naaz: No, but I did not attend classes the day after the shooting at MSU. It felt weird so I just felt like staying in my dorm for the day.  

Lang: I remember during my sophomore year there were reports about a gunman walking around the apartments by Northwest. I was at my friend's dorm and I was scared to go back to my apartment. ... I'm pretty sure it was pretty late when they were finally like, "Oh it's cleared, no need to worry." I also remember being really scared after the Wayside stabbing my freshman year. That was kind of scary.

Are you aware of CMU’s Rave Guardian campus safety app?

Naaz: No, but not just international students, but students in general (need to know) after (the MSU shooting). (CMU) should talk about safety and encourage students ... because we're honestly a little lazy to get ourselves even to things like these. But we as students are also supposed to make an effort to keep ourselves aware about it.

Lang: No, I am not. I have no idea what the app is or what it pertains. I don't really know how I feel, like we don't need to see any sponsored app. I can just go on Yik Yak and get the news that I need. 

How do you think cameras throughout campus affects student’s safety? 

Lang: I feel like there's a lot, and that is beneficial, but I also still feel like there could be more. Like yeah, they're in parking lots and they're in dorm buildings and (classroom) buildings and stuff, but I don't know, if you're just walking up and down campus, I feel like there's not a lot around there. Like when you're walking on like the two main walkways through campus I don't really know if there's cameras there. In the parking lots and stuff I feel like it’s a good thing that they’re there.

Naaz: I mean, that's a good thing in case something happened, at least they have some evidence. CMU just needs better security on campus. I don't know if that comes in terms of restrictions of entries and exits of people or being more aware about who enters the campus. In general, some kind of restriction where people aren't allowed to roam around except students if there are extra people coming in. When are they leaving? Those are kind of like basic things. There's too much freedom and accessibility to outside people and it's taken with a very casual sense.

Are you aware of the different safety resources CMU provides? 

Lang: I am aware of them – most of them – I think.

Naaz: I know about the mental health part of it. Like if something affected you, I received emails from the right people and from my professors, but apart from that, no. I didn't know about the more practical things. I wouldn't be aware if I'm stuck in a situation, what am I supposed to do? Who am I supposed to reach out for help?

What do you think about requiring IDs to enter all campus buildings?

Lang: I think that is a great idea. I don't think the general public should be able to walk into EHS or Biosciences or Anspach or anything. I think it's odd that they are able to do that, and after what happened at MSU, I feel like we need to kind of have like the same system in place that we have for the dorms where you can't just like walk in. I feel like it would make me feel a lot safer when I'm in class knowing there's still a ton of people in here but at least I know they're all students and faculty.

Naaz: It's more safe to be in your dorm hallways, where you need to use your ID card to enter, than it is in your lecture halls. I think that that's very important. That's a change they can make in our lecture halls.

How did the shooting at MSU impact you as a student? 

Naaz: I was pretty scared and freaked out. I've heard a lot of it happening in America pretty often, so to experience it, in person with a college an hour away from me, that was a first. It was pretty freaky. I did not go to attend my class and I just felt like staying in my dorm.

Lang: I have a lot of friends at Michigan State and I have been talking to them ever since it happened and just, like, listening to them and like seeing their posts and stuff. I don't know. I can’t personally even begin to imagine what they're going through. But just like seeing it and watching it all happen, it just makes me angry and upset because it's so avoidable.

Did the MSU shooting change your feelings about attending classes? 

Lang: I almost skipped class after it happened just because I was nervous. I ended up going to my class, but not a lot of people were there. I did notice that the campus seemed really empty right after it happened.

Naaz: Not just because I'm an international student, but anybody would be a little scared in a situation like that because you try to anticipate the worst that could happen. To be more prepared for it, giving a holiday is not a solution. Just to take a day off is not a long-term solution. We need things that last. If you're setting rules, be strict with it, so that gets followed because many kids tend to take it really lightly. You have consequences if you don't follow it.

What changes should be made by CMU to keep students safe? 

Lang: I think the biggest thing would be making it so you have to swipe to get into regular buildings, like how you have to swipe to get into dorms.

Naaz: Amp up on security and have an entry and exit log in the lecture halls and the classrooms. Cameras are important. More security guards of the entries and exits of each hall or some kind of security lock doors. People have too much access to get in the doors.