ARA

On 23 February, the Dean of Students at Rhodes University, Dr Vivien de Klerk, launched their ‘Get Home Safe’ Project, an initiative that encourages students to take responsibility and to plan their leisure activities so that they do not place themselves in vulnerable positions.

Present at the launch was Liezle Cameron from the ARA, the sponsor of this project. Representatives from the Student Representative Council and Campus Protection Unit were also the present to show their support.

The ‘Get Home Safe’ Project is a proactive venture aimed to provide a ‘safety net’ for students, and promotes the idea that students should be responsible about their personal safety and alcohol consumption.

While the ‘Get Home Safe’ vehicle will be a free service to all registered Rhodes students, it is definitely not a taxi, but a last resort safety precaution when students find themselves in a predicament. There will be educational interventions with those students who make excessive use of the service. Students are continuously reminded to be responsible before the University has to take responsibly for them.

The ‘Get Home Safe’ Project was launched during Anti-Alcohol Abuse Week which ran from 23 February to 1 March and aims to raise awareness among Rhodes students of the dangers of misusing alcohol.

The University also engages in other activities like high-level discussions with local publicans, a seminar to discuss results of an alcohol-consumption survey conducted on campus, the launch of the “Dean of Students Alcohol-free Challenge”, and other exciting events which show that one can have fun without alcohol.

The Dean of Students’ slogan, “We Care…,” underpins all their activities and intervention, and the ‘Get Home Safe’ Project demonstrates this caring attitude in a service that will benefit the student community in a very positive way.