New Group Chat Launch at Safety Event in Dinkytown

Safety is an important aspect of college students’ daily life, especially in campus areas like Dinkytown, where the majority of UMN students frequent. Recently, Dinkytown has attracted suspicious behavior and unsafe situations. Controversies have risen on the topic of whether or not the campus SafeU alerts effectively manage these communications. There has been talk of students wanting more coverage or student-submitted reports of these events. However, students may not know where to report these situations or feel uncomfortable speaking up about these topics on public platforms. 

The purpose of our project is to make Dinkytown feel more safe and comfortable for everyone. We want to make it possible for students who see unusual activity to immediately report it to notify students and residents in the surrounding areas. Our goal is not only to raise UMN students’ awareness of these happenings, but also to call every student to be active in creating a safer Dinkytown community for everyone!

To sponsor and spread awareness of safety issues currently happening in Dinkytown, we have decided to host a Lunch & Learn informational session at the Dinkytown Off-Campus Safety Center in collaboration with University of Minnesota Police Department. This event will feature snacks, a chance to meet new friends, and most importantly, local safety info from UMPD. We will go over awareness of what you can do to be safer in the community, and launch a chat group to keep Dinkytown residents informed, and allow for first hand eye-witness accounts to spread knowledge. This event will occur October 26th from 10:15am-11:15am.

Students can get involved by coming to the table and asking questions, joining the chat group, and fostering conversations with the local community. Most importantly, joining the GroupMe via the QR code is an important step to get involved in this safety effort and to help the local community stay aware of increased dangers. Actively utilizing the GroupMe whenever possible allows for the local community to be informed of any dangers in real time. Finally, telling others about the app after the event and allowing them to join the GroupMe helps increase watch in Dinkytown.