Office of Safety and Security Makes Big Changes to Enhance Marist Safety

The intersection outside Hancock as students and cars cross. Photo by Lilian DeFilippis '26

With the change from college to university, Marist University is ushering in an era of new safety precautions to keep pedestrians and drivers safe on campus. 

Certain changes have been made, such as a new crossing guard stationed at the intersection outside of Hancock in the fall semester of 2024. However, there are additional safety measures in place that are less obvious to the student population. 

Daniel Gough, the director of Safety and Security, explained that one safety measure being incorporated is the management of roadways after major campus events, such as athletic tournaments. The main roadway impacted by this is outside the McCann Center, where students and parents tend to gather.

“It’s kind of a social area, and so that creates a lot of pedestrian movement back and forth from the stadium to the parking lot,” said Gough. 

To protect pedestrians and manage vehicular traffic, the roadway is entirely blocked off during athletic events. 

“We hadn’t done that in the past,” Gough explained. “We close it off in its entirety for that period of time so the vehicles can’t come in the south entrance.” 

The officers who police those events, as well as the Hancock intersection, are newly equipped with LED hand-held stop signs to aid in directional management “to be sustainable,” Gough said. “They’re solar powered.” 

Visibility for security officers has been a central focus of the department’s changes. Officers received new uniforms with more reflective striping, as well as traffic wands to redirect vehicular movement. 

Another system already in place is the license plate recognition system (LPR), which scans the license plate of vehicles entering campus. The LPR scans passing vehicles and notifies the security dispatcher if a dangerous vehicle is detected. 

“That’s very helpful because if there is an alert in the area for whatever reason, you can put the license plate into your system, and if a car passes in, it just reads your plate as you’re driving,” said Gough. “I consider it one of our best crime prevention assets or technologies here.” 

Not only are cameras used to recognize license plates, but Marist has nearly 350 cameras throughout campus to ensure the general safety of students and faculty in residence halls and academic buildings. 

With all these new changes already in place, what can Red Foxes expect for the coming academic year? For starters, the development of a sidewalk on the north side of campus outside Ward Hall. 

“There’s only a sidewalk on the outbound lane, not on the inbound,” said Gough. “So we were able to lobby for and get funding to put a sidewalk on that other side. That’ll happen in the late spring or summer.” 

For students, particularly those living in North End, this would provide an additional degree of safety, especially at night.

“That was an early concern of mine,” Gough shared. “It’s dark, and you can’t see them, and they’re out in the roadway because they have nowhere else to go.” 

This new change is in part due to the committee of key stakeholders and representatives that oversee long-term planning throughout campus. Within the committee is a smaller group that looks at walkways and traffic patterns. One of the new changes they’re discussing is making certain roads on campus one-way.

“That would be great because Hancock at that point would be easier to manage,” said Gough. “You wouldn’t be managing cars coming in three directions, only two.”

Another change on the horizon is a shuttle system that would be implemented in the new academic year. 

“If there’s a campus shuttle running continuously, students won’t have that need to drive their own vehicles so, they can jump on the shuttle,” Gough explained. “That’ll reduce the amount of traffic on campus, which in turn makes it safer for pedestrians.” 

Additionally, the department is working on installing a new safety app with a variety of new features, such as a mobile bluelight, digital GPS for pedestrians, shuttle tracker and campus maps that indicate where first aid stations are. The new app would also make it easy for students to submit reports and receive alerts from Marist. 

“It’s the fastest, most reliable method of mass notification,” said Gough. “The alert mode for your app is instantaneous. As soon as I press that button, it’ll show you that there’s an alert on campus.” 

The offices in Donnelly are also receiving upgrades to assist with organization and general customer satisfaction. Nearly 50 people were stationed in the old offices, which hindered dispatch and reception abilities. Through these renovations, the department will be better equipped to address specific situations. 

“I'm confident that the measures we’re taking that are already in progress or being considered are going to improve things for next year,” said Gough. “Very confident.”