Looking for safety resources at The University of Texas at Austin? Whether you're a student, parent, or simply interested in learning more about personal safety, there are several resources available to the UT Austin community.
In this post, we highlight the 5 we believe everyone should utilize.
1. Sure Walk
Thanks to Sure Walk at UT Austin, you never have to walk home alone.
Every day from 7pm to 2am, Sure Walk provides nightly rides from campus to the surrounding areas they service. If your dorm, apartment, or parked car is outlined in the service area below, Sure Walk will assist you there and make sure you arrive safe and sound.
2. UT Night Rides
UT Austin has partnered with Lyft to offer students free late night rides from campus to surrounding areas highlighted in the map below.
This program operates from 12am to 4am, 7 days a week.
To call a night ride with Lyft, check out these next steps to activate your Lyft account and claim your free night ride to get you home from campus safely.
3. LiveSafe at UT
LiveSafe at UT is a safety app that the university has created to provide the community with immediate access to police dispatch information via SMS.
You can also use the app to report suspicious activity, virtually walk with friends, and access additional resources.
To view a step by step guide on how to set up the app, visit the LiveSafe at UT website.
4. UTPD
The University of Texas Police Department (UTPD) is UT Austin's very own police department. It’s a fully functioning police department with over 100 sworn in officers that is committed to serving and protecting the UT community 24 hours a day.
Have questions about who oversees where you live, work, or have class? UTPD's District Representative map gives faculty, staff and students a quick way to directly contact an officer that is assigned to their particular area and let them know about any concerns.
To contact UTPD in an emergency, dial 911. To learn more about UTPD, visit their website.
5. SafeHorns
SafeHorns was started by a group of parents after the brutal murder of Haruka Weiser on April 3, 2016 at The University of Texas campus.
The following year on May 1, 2017, four students were stabbed on campus. Harrison Brown did not survive this tragic event.
The conversation of creating a safer environment for students became a movement to protect the entire UT community. Joell McNew decided to take action and started a nonprofit called SafeHorns.
SafeHorns is a group of Longhorn alumni, parents, faculty, staff, and community members that is committed to improving safety for all members and visitors of the Longhorn family. SafeHorns works to achieve its mission of improving safety through on-going advocacy, strategic planning, and implementation.
A few of the safety initiatives SafeHorns has led are:
- Created the “Report for Harrison” campaign, designed to highlight the need to report all crimes immediately
- Successfully lobbied the Austin City Council to include West Campus as part of the city’s Homeless Outreach Street Team
- Championed a three-year effort for Austin to improve lighting in West Campus
Annually, SafeHorns hosts a National Campus Night Out in West Campus that features different safety resources—including officers from UTPD as well as other campus safety organizations.
This past year Safely attended and got to connect with more people from the UT safety community.
To find out more about SafeHorns or to get involved you can visit their website.