Student’s Union speaks about safety within the Brantford Community
Laurier Brantford has recently faced a number of incidents in the area surrounding campus, and the Students’ Union is taking all necessary steps to ensure the safety of the students is the top priority.
A large topic of conversation surrounding the Brantford campus is the safety of students. The campus is known for being rooted in the downtown core, sharing spaces with a large proportion of the city’s unhoused population.
I have personally watched the issuedevelop for many years as someonewho grew up in the city.
According to Sayak Sneddon-Gho-sal, vice-president of government and stakeholder relations within the Students’ Union, students have reported a number of incidents involving people experiencing homelessness in the local community.
“We’re aware that there’s no kind of one-size-fits-all solution and that folks have different concerns when it comes to safety and that safety doesn’t look the same for everyone,”Sneddon-Ghosal said.
One program the Students’ Union offers for both campuses is called ‘Hawk Walk’. The service provides students a walking companion from classes to any residence during night time hours. The program is a great safety feature on campus, equipped with a vehicle that can drive students in the colder months or need to travel a further distance.
However myself, along with other students, have noted nights when the program was not running due to circumstances we weren’t made aware of. It leaves some room for error when something like this is not consistent.
While engaging with the unhoused community is a complex issue when it comes to safety on the Brantford campus, Sachpreet Karda, vice- president of programming and services on the Brantford campus, noted that while the Students’ Union understands the concerns and doesn’t seek to diminish experiences of students, they want to reiterate that the unhoused community in Brantford is comprised of vulnerable people who deserve our compassion and understanding.
“We absolutely hear those concerns and take them seriously, but we do also offer our compassion to folks in the [unhoused] community, and we do try to remind students that not all people on the streets are bad people,” Karda said.
The Students’ Union has also taken a step back from their programming with local bar Brando’s Beach House after news has taken over the local community of a shooting that took place nearby in early November.
Community members discussed in the comment section of a post in a local Facebook group What’s Happening, Brantford? , about whether the shooting was at the bar itself, or a nearby apartment.
There has not been an official statement of the situation from local authorities at this time.
Karda explained that the team at the Students’ Union is constantly discuss-ing these types of programs and put-ting the conversation of student safety at the forefront of those conversations.
“Knowing that we are running a program and promoting student safety there, we want to make sure that we’re doing it in the best way possible,” Karda said.
“And so, a lot of that I think will look like just a little bit of a step back from now and gauging what is the safety concern there. ”
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