Get Safety App "BlueLight" For Your Campus

By Megan Weyrauch on April 28, 2015

I remember it was snowing that night (or morning, I should say) as I left the library on The Ohio State University campus around 2 a.m., after a long night of studying for midterms, to make my way back to my dorm.

The falling snow brought on an eerie calm as I nervously walked home alone, not thinking about asking anyone to accompany me. I remember thinking every shadow I saw was someone lying in wait for an unsuspecting passerby like me. Armed with only my backpack full of books, I wondered what I would do if someone were to jump out from behind the next set of bushes …

Fortunately, the story ends with me making it safely to my dorm, but what if someone had followed me? What if I had been attacked as I walked alone at 2 a.m.? With no plan of action in the event that I had been pursued, I left myself completely vulnerable.

Though it is better to walk home at night with a friend, there are times when you will find yourself walking alone. When you walk alone on campus at night, do you think you will be safe? Well, now you can have a plan of action with safety app, BlueLight.

A tech company whose app provides safety tools and better emergency calling on campus, BlueLight is commemorating Sexual Assault Awareness Month by adding 10 new campuses nationwide to its network, according to a recent press release.

The BlueLight app connects you on campus directly to an emergency dispatcher at the school’s Public Safety or Police Department, along with your location and contact info, acting as a mobile replacement for landline blue light towers.

BlueLight works based on your location; on campus, the call is directed to campus security, and off campus, local 911.

In addition, the app shares your location with friends and family via trip sharing feature On My Way and sends notifications when you’ve arrived safely at a destination, according to the release.

The new campuses include: Northwestern University, University of Chicago, Indiana Wesleyan University, Indiana University South Bend, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, and University of Kentucky, as well as Norco College, College of the Canyons, Concordia College, and Gustavus Adolphus College.

“Powering on these ten campuses covers over 137,000 students,” said Lauren Wilbanks, BlueLight’s Director of Communications, of the mass launch. “We see these ten campuses as a down payment on a promise to bring every school requested by a student into the BlueLight network. When you apply that math to the 450 schools where we’ve been requested so far, you start to see the impact we can make.”

This expansion comes after a few other recent launches, one at Minnesota State University Moorhead and one at Kent State University, the latter spearheaded by Anhelica Rodriguez, the risk management chair of a Kent State sorority.

Each new school added to BlueLight’s network was directly requested by students who attend the school. The press release included a quote from Connor Regan, a student who requested Northwestern, excited to see his request fulfilled.

“I think BlueLight is an incredible technology that has the potential to make our campus and our community much safer,” he said.

Regan discussed students’ solo late night walks home from parties and the library, commending BlueLight on providing these students with an element of safety.

“BlueLight lets you have safety right in the palm of your hand—plus you can share your route with a friend or roommate so they can make sure you get home safely,” he said.

Bluelight currently serves nearly 100 college campuses, corporate campuses and ski resorts, designed for both students and the general public. New campuses can be added to the network in a matter of days with no integration required.

Interested in bringing BlueLight technology to your campus? Request your campus at  support@getbluelight.com.

BlueLight is the culmination of years of research around personal safety technology by Preet Anand, founder and CEO of BlueLight.

“I heard the statistic that one in five women would be victims of sexual assault before they graduated and I was blown away,” Anand said. “I applied that ratio to the important women in my life and it wasn’t okay—not then, not now.”

Founded in 2013, BlueLight is focused on improving personal safety and providing enhanced emergency calling through mobile solutions. Download the app by searching “bluelight saftey” on the App Store or in Google Play.

“While sexual violence is a complicated problem and we can’t fix all pieces of it, any dent in the problem is still really impactful,” Anand said.

Learn more at https://getbluelight.com.

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