Security and Safety on Campus

By Elaine Amico | Published May 3, 2023

In light of recent school shootings, college students across the globe have a growing fear of the unthinkable happening on their campus. Kean University students are no exception.

Megan Vankersen, Kean Ocean senior elementary education major, feels that it is too easy for the general public to enter Kean buildings at the Ocean campus. 

“I felt safe on campus until I realized how easy it was to get into our buildings,” Vankersen said. “I have friends who are in different programs on campus, and they have to physically scan their badges to be able to enter their building. The Gateway Building, where my classes are, allows for anyone to enter without any identification on them.” 

Vankersen went on to explain that ultimately she would feel safer if every building had the option to scan Kean ID’s for entry. Vankersen also expressed that having locks on the doors of her classroom would also make her feel safer, as Kean Ocean classrooms can not be locked from the inside. 

Katelyn Peel, Kean Ocean senior elementary education major, would like the opportunity for her and her classmates to be more educated on emergency preparedness. Peel had an incident happen in her classroom, where a man walked into the room and impersonated a janitor.

“He was asked to leave, and practically refused while his friend was videoing at the door,” Peel said.

Peel feels being more educated on what should be done in these situations would be beneficial for both her and her classmates.

“None of us thought he was a possible threat, which shows how uneducated and unprepared we were for this incident,” Peel said. “There should be more education on the matter or some preventative action to take, so something like this doesn’t happen again.”

Peel went on to explain that up until this incident, she did feel safe on the Ocean campus, however since then, she no longer does. She realized just how easy it would be for someone to enter the school at any time.

Across all Kean campuses, plans are in place for emergency procedures.

University Police Acting Director Anthony Monticello, explained that the university is actively practicing a tabletop, in which they go through an emergency scenario in slow motion, with all the emergency responders necessary. This allows for the university to actively practice an emergency, and get used to the exact procedure that they will follow. 

Monticello also explained that all of the university officers are actively being trained in active shooter training, where they go every month to an offsite location and go through a live simulation. There they get a feel of actually being in the moment with a live shooter. 

Monticello said Union County is also doing an entire revamp of incident command. If something were to happen at Kean University, there would be multiple agencies responding to it. For that reason, the Chief of Police is coordinating different responses to different locations, and Kean University is one of them.

Monticello also talked about Rave, a new emergency assistant networking app, that is currently in the works among all campuses, that students will have access to on their phones. The app will become available for incoming freshmen students.

“We want the app to be user-friendly, where students are not just using it in case of an emergency for the first time,” Monticello said. “It’s going to be a generic app for the whole university where students can use it to purchase things on campus, so they can get friendly with it, in the event they have to use the emergency feature.”

Monticello also stressed the importance of saying something if you see something.

“A lot of times students don’t realize that we have a police department that’s on duty 24/7, 365 here at Kean,” Monticello said. “Don’t hesitate to call us. We would rather you make the call, than not make the call.”

If you ever find yourself being afraid to walk to your car or your dorm, you can contact Kean University Police Department directly at  (908) 737-4800.  They have no problem escorting you, and ultimately want students on campus to feel as safe as possible.

---