Late-night escort is for safety, not tired feet

It is 10:30 on Sunday night and you have just parked your car in the stadium parking lot. What next? At this point, many Rice students call extension 6000 and request an escort to their respective colleges. They are greeted several minutes later by Mimi’s smiling face in the gray Rice escort service vehicle. The purpose and value of this seemingly simple weekly ritual for many Rice students is sometimes misunderstood. Everyone from the administration to the police department to the students themselves has an idea of the value of the escort service and of why it is a crucial service to provide. This year, we must reaffirm and stand by what the late-night escort service really means for students.

So it is integral to recognize what the late-night escort service is not. It is not an evening replacement for the daytime shuttle service — a faster way to get from one place to another on campus. It is not a service for the lazy, tired or intoxicated students who will not, or cannot, walk across campus at night. We need to better appreciate that the late-night escort service is not a right; rather, it is a privilege to a means to travel our campus safely at night.

The late-night escort service at Rice is provided for students’ safety. My parents worry about me going out late at night, on- or off-campus, especially when I am alone. But traveling at night is the norm for Rice students, whether they are returning from Fondren Library in the early morning hours or enjoying a night out with friends.

Our small campus is nestled in a large city with all of the associated problems. While the various entrance gates are chained at midnight, the main entrance is still open for vehicles and entering campus on foot is hardly difficult. The Rice University Police Department does an excellent job patrolling the campus and individual colleges, but incidents continue to occur — just take a look at the police blotter published weekly in the Thresher. So whether the person who accompanies you is on foot or in a vehicle, having someone with you is crucial.

Everyone at Rice needs to take the late-night escort service more seriously. Recognizing that the escort service is a guarantor of safety rather than a crutch for spoiled kids who are too lazy to walk back at night is just a first step. RUPD should help by treating late-night escort calls as a high priority and by responding to the calls more efficiently. Students should thank those involved with the service, while being responsible about using the service as well.

The next time you make a late-night House of Pies run and you find yourself at a lonely stadium bus stop at 3:30 a.m., rethink what it means to dial extension 6000 for an escort. Regardless of whether you make the call or not, you deserve the opportunity to have someone to accompany you back to your college — not as a matter of convenience, but of safety.

Noorain Khan is a Martel College senior.

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