Students Fear Lack of Safety on Campus

In light of recent school shootings, college students across the globe have a growing fear of the unthinkable happening on their campus. Kean University students are no exception.

Megan Vankersen, Kean Ocean senior elementary education major, feels that it is too easy for the general public to enter Kean buildings at the Ocean campus.

“I felt safe on campus until I realized how easy it was to get into our buildings,” Vankersen said. “I have friends who are in different programs on campus, and they have to physically scan their badges to be able to enter their building. The Gateway Building, where my classes are, allows for anyone to enter without any identification on them.”

Vankersen went on to explain that ultimately she would feel safer if every building had the option to scan Kean ID’s for entry. Vankersen also expressed that having locks on the doors of her classroom would also make her feel safer, as Kean Ocean classrooms can not be locked from the inside.

Katelyn Peel, Kean Ocean senior elementary education major, would like the opportunity for her and her classmates to be more educated on emergency preparedness. Peel had an incident happen in her classroom, where a man walked into the room and impersonated a janitor.

“He was asked to leave, and practically refused while his friend was videoing at the door,” Peel said.

Peel feels being more educated on what should be done in these situations would be beneficial for both her and her classmates.

“None of us thought he was a possible threat, which shows how uneducated and unprepared we were for this incident,” Peel said. “There should be more education on the matter or some preventative action to take, so something like this doesn’t happen again.”

Peel went on to explain that up until this incident, she did feel safe on the Ocean campus,