Although only about two students use HUCEP escorts on a given night, and many students walk alone around campus, administrators say that the program is important because it makes students feel safe.

When administrators and the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) joined forces to create a campus escort service a little more than a year ago, it had become clear that the campus was in need of safeguarding.

Indeed, by the time the Harvard University Campus Escort Program—or HUCEP, as it has come to be known—was actually implemented in March 2004, there had been eight indecent assaults in three months around Harvard Square.

And in December 2003, University Hall discovered that HUCEP’s precursor, a student-run outfit known as SafetyWalk, had been defunct for a large portion of the year without anyone knowing.

Plans for HUCEP were initiated in January by Associate Dean of the College Judith H. Kidd and Assistant Dean of the College Paul J. McLoughlin.

Now, after the completion of its second semester in operation, administrators and HUPD say they are happy with HUCEP’s performance.

Although its usage has fallen since it first started, walkers and supervisors alike agree that HUCEP’s benefits reach far more than just those who receive nightly escorts.

“From my experience with it, especially during the time when it began—the time of the groper—I think it was something the campus needed, even if it was only a psychological effect,” says HUCEP walker Alejandro G. Ruiz ’05.

The “placebo effect,” as some have termed it, seems to be what administrators and walkers feel HUCEP contributes most to the community-at-large. According to HUPD spokesman Steven G. Catalano, although most nights will see only two escorts, when walkers patrol the campus in their recognizable neon yellow-green jackets, students feel safer just knowing they are out on the streets.

WALKING THE WALK

Although the program’s proponents have actively publicized HUCEP to the student body through freshman orientation programs and poster campaigns, many students are still unaware of its activities.

Generally, two pairs of walkers, hired by HUPD, will be on a shift each night, from 10:30 p.m. to 2 a.m. Sundays through Wednesdays, and 10:30 p.m. to 3 a.m. Thursdays through Saturdays.

From the beginning of the academic year until Feb. 8, HUCEP provided 217 escorts.

Currently, the staff at HUCEP consists of 32 walkers, only five of which are female. Catalano explains that this imbalance may be due to an age gap on the staff.

“A lot of our walkers are freshmen, and we know that female freshmen just coming to the city may not feel as comfortable with their surroundings to do the escort service as males,” he says. “We need to do a better job at recruiting in the upper classes.”

Catalano says he still recognizes the importance of increasing the female proportion of the staff.