York U to hold inaugural Safety Awareness Day Tues. Oct. 5
Safety Awareness website a one-stop safety site for students, faculty and staff
TORONTO, October 4, 2010 − York University will hold its first Safety Awareness Day on Tuesday Oct. 5, a special event focusing on personal safety education.
An information fair in Vari Hall, from 10:30am to 2pm, will bring together in one location all of the programs, personnel and services dedicated to personal safety at York. This September brought the new Know it! Use it! Own it! safety awareness initiative to the University. This initiative is a pan-University effort, which features a physical and virtual presence. It was launched with Facebook ads, posters, banners in Vari Hall, and the creation of the University's new Safety Awareness website, all leading up to Safety Awareness Day on Oct. 5.
York University’s new Safety Awareness website is a one-stop safety site designed to inform students, faculty and staff about some of the safety resources at York. In keeping with the Know it! Use it! Own it! initiative, the site lists all the important phone numbers in case of an emergency, offers safety tips including information for first year students, promotes the use of services such as the goSAFE Escort Service, and informs community members about how to report safety concerns.
Organizers of Safety Awareness Day hope the event will offer an opportunity for everyone on campus to engage in a meaningful dialogue about how to be proactive about their personal safety.
As part of the safety initiative, the Residence Life staff will be hosting a weeklong series of activities designed to raise awareness among residence students about various aspects of safety in residence including personal safety, fire safety, emergency preparedness and campus safety.
Safety was also a key focus during Orientation Week with a variety of initiatives in the residences and colleges focused on raising awareness about safety issues and resources, and culminating with the Can I Kiss You? event hosted by the Centre of Human Rights on Sept. 8. The Glendon campus is also participating in the campaign and disseminating the information in both English and French to reflect the unique bilingual nature of the campus.
The Safety Awareness initiative follows the release of the York University Safety Audit Report, a comprehensive evaluation of safety initiatives on the York campus by the Metropolitan Action Committee on Violence Against Women & Children (METRAC), a third-party auditor. The report captured many of the strengths related to safety programs on campus but also emphasized the need to develop a more pronounced culture of safety and security for all community members.
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York University is the leading interdisciplinary research and teaching university in Canada. York offers a modern, academic experience at the undergraduate and graduate level in Toronto, Canada’s most international city. The third largest university in the country, York is host to a dynamic academic community of 50,000 students and 7,000 faculty and staff, as well as 200,000 alumni worldwide. York’s 10 Faculties and 28 research centres conduct ambitious, groundbreaking research that is interdisciplinary, cutting across traditional academic boundaries. This distinctive and collaborative approach is preparing students for the future and bringing fresh insights and solutions to real-world challenges. York University is an autonomous, not-for-profit corporation.
Media Contact:
Keith Marnoch, Media Relations, York University, 416 455 4710 / marnoch@yorku.ca
