(09/23/02 4:00am)
Following an armed robbery at a UNC residence hall, University officials are urging students to take increased safety precautions at their residence halls.
On Thursday, a student reported being robbed at gunpoint in his Avery Residence Hall room. Since then, student safety has risen to the forefront of University attention. “We are gravely concerned and continue to be concerned about students’ safety,” said Rick Bradley, assistant director of housing and residential education. “However, this incident is not the norm.”
To ensure residential security, public safety patrols will be increased in the areas around Avery and safety alert signs have been posted in campus buildings and on Point-2-Point buses.
Christopher Payne, director of housing and residential education, met with Joanna Jordan, Resident Hall Association president, Friday to discuss steps students can take to protect themselves on campus.
“Residents have a responsibility to lock their doors and valuables, stop allowing tailgating and to notify (the Department of) Public Safety of suspicious characters,” Jordan said.
It is unclear whether the robber was a resident or simply “tailgated” his way into the building. Tailgating occurs when someone follows residents into their building after they have unlocked the door to the residence hall.
The robber held the victim at gunpoint in his room and managed to get away with a laptop computer, a cell phone, jewelry and cash.
To help students with safety skills, RHA, DPS and the housing department have collaborated to implement a campuswide, two-step safety program called “Lock It, Stop It, Tell It,” Jordan said.
The first part of the program begins at 3 p.m. today. For two hours, representatives from student government, RHA executives and officers from DPS will stand outside residence halls explaining the hazards of tailgating, leaving doors unlocked and failing to notify the proper officials when suspicious incidents occur.
Jordan said the second part of the program, to be held Monday and Tuesday, is called “Smarties and Dum Dums.” In this portion, students will be tested on how well they follow safety precautions. Those who do well will be rewarded Smarties candy, and those who don’t will be given Dum Dums lollipops.
The robbery that sparked these efforts is the fourth and most severe residence hall-related incident reported this fall, Bradley said.
The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.