As of this semester, the FAMU S.A.F.E. Team (Students Available for Escort) is making its return to Florida A&M.
The Team, which currently consists of five escorts, is back to keeping the campus safe.
Lack of funding for over a year left them with no choice but to put a halt to their services until Student Government Vice-President, Breyon Love, made it one of his campaign platform points to bring the team back. The team is backed by $10,000 in SGA funding for the year.
“Campus Safety is very important. It’s essential to our campus, especially the educational aspect of it. You can go to different universities in the state and see our Safe Team is huge compared to others,” said Love. “They (The S.A.F.E. Team) even extend their services to other campuses.
“It’s more important than our social activities on campus because it keeps us safe.”
Rattlers seem to be grateful for the return.
“I’m actually very happy it’ll back on the campus granted I won’t benefit myself seeing that I’m graduating,” says Robert Bogle, a graduating architecture student from Ft. Lauderdale. “Knowing that there’s a lot of freshman who don’t have any transportation; it’ll be a lot safer for those who are on campus.”
Although many are happy that the S.A.F.E. Team has returned, some students aren’t happy that the team had to ever stop their services.
“I don’t think it was right for the S.A.F.E. Team to have been gone for so long. They’re a necessity because they increase the safety of the students,” said Kai Linnea, a third year pharmacy student from Jacksonville.
Although they are now being funded again, the S.A.F.E. Team is still in need of sponsorships to purchase a new golf cart, shirts, cold-weather jackets and more for the escorts.
Besides their nightly routine, the team plans on doing safety presentations around campus in attempts to make students more aware of their surroundings and how to protect themselves if they are ever in danger.
Alongside Vice-President Love, former Deputy Comptroller and present S.A.F.E. Team Director of Safety, Makaela Obi is expecting great things from the team.
“I hope that people appreciate it. We are here to help the campus be safe. We hope to be here forever,” Obi said.
Students who wish to make use of the S.A.F.E. Teams services can call (850) 599-3795 between the hours of 8 p.m. and 12 a.m.