For those of you who don’t understand what a “Safe-U Advisory” email is, you either do not attend the University of Minnesota or attended years before they became a thing. For most students, receiving a Safe-U Advisory email is a part of your daily routine because of how frequently those emails like to enter their inboxes.
More recently, on Sunday, November 12, 2023, students received a Safe-U Advisory about a robbery and kidnapping after a victim was followed home from Sally’s Saloon in the Stadium Village area.
The Safe-U Safety Notification stated the following: “U of M Twin Cities: Robbery/kidnapping occurred at 1 am today, 11/12/23. UMPD notified within the past hour. Victim was followed from Sally’s to the Superblock area where he was forced into a small sedan by three males. Victim was robbed at gun point, victim was then dropped off somewhere between Superblock and I94/Cretin Ave/Vandalia St exit in St. Paul. Suspects were described as 3 males wearing all black. This is an MPD case number 23-303229.”
While these notifications are great for the situational awareness of students, the Safe-U Safety Notifications seem to have a habit of making their way out to students in an untimely manner.
The majority of people who attend the University of Minnesota or who have made their way over to campus know just how busy Sally’s Saloon is. It’s not uncommon to see a line stretching down the entire block on a Friday night with people, particularly students, waiting to get into the packed college bar. Because of this example, it is even more important to get the alerts out in a timely manner.
Despite the robbery and kidnapping having happened at 1:00 A.M., the Safe-U alert failed to make its way out to the student population until nearly 11 hours past the incident at 12:19 P.M. Although the email serves as a good reminder to be careful while going out, even with friends, Minneapolis is a very large and wild city, and the time that past between the email being sent out and the incident happening allows for a lot of craziness to happen.
These Safe-U alerts might have a process of approval when sending out their information, but, even if the messages do have to go through a chain of University of Minnesota employees before being published, there needs to be a faster process than the current system that benefits and promotes student safety on campus.
Outside of these alerts, little follow up or preventative actions seem to be taken by the University of Minnesota. Yes, as previously stated, we have a Big Ten school in the middle of a metropolis, but not everyone knows how to navigate safely in a big city. Instead of receiving spam emails about meal plans you’ll never use and surveys most college students don’t have time to take, it would be more beneficial for students to have knowledge on how to travel safely at night on campus and self-protection that is available on campus.
As a freshman from a small town, coming to school here was quite the culture shock, and I can’t imagine that it’s much different for other people that grew up outside of a large city. It’s not uncommon for most students at the University of Minnesota campus to have been robbed or know someone else that has.
Contrary to popular belief, our campus isn’t Disney World – it’s just the way it is. Rather than forcing students to take classes that don’t apply to their majors and sending out spam emails about meal plans they will never need, the University of Minnesota would be more helpful in providing those who pay tuition dollars with some real world advice, or at the very least, Safe-U alerts minutes after an incident happens, not hours or even days.
