Installing Safety

As warm spring nights approach, Harvard students trekking back to the Quad from late night River revelry can walk confidently where they once feared to tread: blue light phones have finally been installed in Cambridge Common.

Nearly two years after a wave of assaults on students walking through the Common, blue light phones that provide a direct line to Cambridge Police headquarters have been installed. While the Undergraduate Council (UC), Harvard College, and the City of Cambridge should be commended for cooperating to ensure student safety in what has been a dangerous area, it is disappointing that the emergency phones took so long to install. We understand that the installation could not be completed during the winter due to the impracticality of excavating frozen ground to connect phone lines, but the phones should have been ready to install far before late last fall. Gropers don’t wait for the ground to thaw.

Despite the long delay, the cooperation between the University and the Cambridge City administration in getting the phones in place is commendable, as was the UC’s sustained diligence in helping to negotiate a plan to install the phones, and their refusal to let the issue stagnate. We know that the College will not regret spending $12,000 on the phones; that small sum will pay enormous dividends in terms of peace of mind and deterrence, and may well save a student’s life someday.

And of course, blue lights will not only serve students; Cambridge residents were among those assaulted in the rash of attacks two years ago. In cases of safety, the University and the larger community are intermeshed—both must take responsibility for protecting students and residents. We hope that a precedent for town-gown cooperation has been set here.

Nevertheless, students must realize that however real the intellectual Harvard bubble may seem, we live in a city where crime is an unfortunate reality. Despite the extra layer of security that blue light phones provide for those walking back to the Quad at night, students must take other precautions, including staying on the designated safe path, utilizing Harvard University Campus Escort Program, or merely walking in a group. Ultimately, one cannot rely on others for security—one must protect oneself.