“We feel that some females may be more inclined to use the service if there were a male/female team,” he says. “If that’s a factor in someone’s decision, we want to increase the number of female walkers so they can use the service.”

Students can receive escorts by either calling the service’s extension (4-8237) or by flagging down a walker in the area.

Day-to-day usage of the service is fairly consistent. Although some nights can be heavier than others—six escorts in one night would be on the high end for this year—all seven days of the week are generally used evenly, with about two escorts per night.

As for who uses the service, not surprisingly, female users are vastly more common than male ones. But some suggest that men may benefit simply from knowing the walkers are patrolling at night.

“There’s this ancillary benefit to males who don’t call—for whatever reason they don’t call—that the walkers are out there,” says Catalano. “We strongly encourage all students and faculty to take the appropriate precautions.”

Overall, though, those involved in the program feel confident that it is serving its role effectively.

“We’re very pleased with the management of HUCEP and the collaboration we have with HUPD on this. We have never received one complaint here at the dean’s office about this program,” says Kidd. “I think that HUCEP has come a very long way.”

WALK MUCH?

Still, HUCEP, like any other young program, is not without its kinks.

Some walkers complain that usage is just too low and cite lackluster advertisement as the main cause.

“I feel like the service has never been publicized as much as it should be, and so a lot of nights, very frequently, we don’t get any calls,” says one walker who asked to remain anonymous in order to preserve job security. “Honestly, walking on a Sunday night, you don’t see anybody out there. I’ve gone nights without even picking up any people at all.”

Kidd says that the program’s value does not diminish, even considering the few escorts given each night,

“I think the thing about HUCEP is that it will always be a low-usage program,” says Kidd. “But for those students who do use it, it’s an incredibly important program.”

In addition, McLoughlin says administrators have not received feedback about poor publicity.

“[That issue] hasn’t been brought to the safety committee by any of the eight students who sit on it,” says McLoughlin, who was instrumental in the creation of HUCEP last year. He adds that while it is easy for students to want more publicity, it is much more difficult to effectively execute that ideal.