Campus safety tips for college and university students

Updated 2026-10-25 · 6 minute read

A new campus means new freedom, new friends and new places, often at night. A few habits in the first weeks make the rest of the year feel a lot safer.

Getting around

• Learn the campus in daylight: the well-lit routes, the 24-hour buildings and where campus security is.
• Save campus security's number next to the local emergency number.
• Use the campus night shuttle or walk-home service if there is one. That's what it's there for.
• Share your walk with a friend when you head home late from the library or a party.

Parties

• Go with friends and leave with friends. Agree before you go.
• Pour your own drinks and keep them with you.
• Have a code word in your group chat that means "get me out of here".
• Look out for each other. If a friend seems much drunker than she should be, stay with her and get help.

Dorms and housing

• Lock your door, even for a quick trip down the hall.
• Don't hold doors for people you don't recognise in secure buildings.
• Know your flatmates' numbers and make a circle together.

Dating

• Meet new people in public the first few times.
• Tell a friend who you're meeting and where, and set a check-in.