From left, athletic training freshman Emily Murch and Spanish sophomore Laura Blanton walk no-preference freshman Trina Agosta home from the Main Library Wednesday night. Murch and Blanton are part of a walking service called Statewalk that gives students escorts home from the library late at night.
The walk from the Main Library to Emi Bulica’s dorm in Landon Hall isn’t a long one, but it’s not one she feels safe making alone at 12:36 a.m.
The green emergency contact stations are sparse around Beaumont Tower, and the area is surrounded with tall trees and bushes.
It’s why Bulica uses Statewalk.
Statewalk is a service provided by Alpha Phi Omega, a service fraternity at MSU not related to the greek system. Each night, three to five volunteers wait on the first floor of the West Wing of the library and walk anyone anywhere on campus for free.
The service usually runs from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., but it will be extended during finals week to 2 a.m.
Two volunteers walk a person to his or her destination, ensuring no one travels alone. Another person waits at the table in the library with their phone ready in case the group needs assistance.
MSU police Sgt. Florene McGlothian-Taylor said Statewalk is a good service to utilize since it is far safer to walk with a group than alone.
“You’re less likely a target yourself when you’re walking with someone as opposed to walking with yourself,” McGlothian-Taylor said.
Communication junior Britt Hughes, the vice president of service with Alpha Phi Omega said the service eventually hopes to expand to off-campus sites as well as to other buildings on campus such as the Business Library.
“The library just this year … has asked us to be at the Business Library as well and extend our hours,” Hughes said. “We just need to build up our membership so we have the power to do so.”
But despite the service’s multiple advertisements across campus — on signs, on banners, in dorms and on TV — there still are people who don’t know about the service after 15 years of existence.
Bulica said she knew of the service last year, but finds herself always telling people about it.
“I’ll say, ‘Oh, you can have people walk you back’ — they’re just surprised,” Bulica said.
“I think that most people don’t know about it and ask for the times and where do you go to find them.”
James Madison College freshman Kelsey Antcliff said she never had heard of the service. Although she said it sounded useful, Antcliff doubted she’d use the service.
“I feel pretty safe walking on campus, so I don’t think I’d ever use it,” Antcliff said.
Premedical freshman Trina Agosta used the service on Wednesday to walk back to Bailey Hall. She said she preferred Statewalk to the bus, which can take 10-15 minutes to arrive, or to the Night Owl, which does not begin running until 2 a.m. And she wouldn’t think about walking back alone.
“I’m scared to walk home alone at night,” Agosta said. “I just have heard bad stories.”
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Staff writer Josh Sidorowicz contributed to this report._
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