Armed with glow sticks and a message of safety, members of UNA’s faculty and staff patrolled campus and escorted students to their cars April 2.

Faculty and staff members started an organization called NOW, or Not on Our Watch. The organization, comprised of members of the faculty and staff, said they are taking a stand against violence on campus.

Sitting patiently in the lobby of Collier Library, Lesley Peterson, associate professor of English, asked students leaving the library if she could walk them to their cars or dorm rooms.

“I want my students to know that I care,” Peterson said. “I want them to know that there are people that take their safety seriously.”

Peterson was one of approximately 20 faculty and staff members who patrolled campus and shadowed campus police Student Nighttime Auxiliary Patrol (SNAP) officers from 9 p.m. until 1 a.m.

“It’s important to make connections with students…because students need to know (their safety is important),” Peterson said.

After a reported rape in September, two reported gang rapes in the early part of 2013 and other campus crimes that have occurred, faculty and staff members want their students know they are here to help.

Ranee Mitchell, one of the event’s organizers, admissions staff member and parent of a UNA student, said she wants students to feel safe on campus.

“We just want them to know that there have been some issues on campus and we want them to know we care,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell’s daughter attends the university and lives in a residence hall on campus. She said she would feel the same way about campus safety if she didn’t have a daughter on campus.

As an employee in the office of admissions, Mitchell said she tries to build relationships with students and she wants them to know she is there for them even after they start attending UNA.

Director of Admissions Kim Maudlin echoed what Mitchell said.

“We are big advocates of living on campus,” Mauldin said. “However, we have to be realistic.”

Mauldin said with recent crimes on campus, it puts her and her fellow admissions representatives in an ethical dilemma when parents and students ask about the safety issues on campus.

Mauldin said she tells parents “although we did have a security issue, we did have to praise the woman for coming forward.”

Mauldin said she tells parents and students that the university took swift action and is dealing with security on campus.

“This is their way of showing that we want students to know that we all care about safety,” said David Shields, vice president for student affairs.

Shields said that after recent sexual assaults and robberies on campus, parents call him and ask if he would send his kids to school at UNA.

“Absolutely I would send my children to UNA,” he said. “I would feel very confident having my child here today.”

Shields uses this gauge as a way of determining whether or not UNA’s campus is safe, but he said students can never be too careful and should always use good personal safety when on campus.

“Don’t assume somebody else will call (the police), or somebody else will do something about it,” Shields said.

Shields and Pastula are urging students and faculty members to be active bystanders and to take responsibility in keeping UNA’s campus safe.

Members of the NOW group said they are planning to do more night patrols in the future.