Help Systems, commonly called blue lights, are installed around campus to give students a direct phone line to Public Safety in the case of an emergency. However, a third of them are not in working order.
Pieces of paper labeled with “OUT OF ORDER” are taped over the call buttons of six blue lights located near Stemmons Plaza, Evans Hall, the Lower and Upper Piney Woods Lots near the law school, and the Liberty Hall Lot for first-year and upper-division parking.
All of the lights on the out-of-order systems remain active, indicating to passersby that they are fully operational in an emergency. The out-of-order signs are capitalized and bolded, but they are small and not apparent until close to the system.
One of the blue lights near the Augusta Square Lot does not have an out-of-order sign, but the light on top has gone out, making it difficult to see at night.
Washington and Lee’s 2024 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report mentions that there are “18 ‘Code Blue’/Emergency Phones,” but no map exists showing where the towers are located.
The report also mentions 63 other emergency phones, which are much smaller and have a similar blue bulb at the top. The emergency phones sit on a smaller pole and are not as noticeable as the larger blue light towers. They serve the same function as Help Systems.
The report does not mention the maintenance schedule of the Help Systems or the other emergency phones. The out-of-order signs on some of the Help Systems have been up for at least a month.
The Administrator Guide for the blue light systems recommends weekly maintenance to ensure the LEDs and communication systems are in working order. They should also be inspected for damage every month and opened and inspected biannually for internal wear, according to the guide.
CommGear.com provides replacement parts for all blue light systems and the option to buy an entirely new one. A service call in Virginia costs $210 an hour. The cost to replace an entire system begins at $8,500, and all systems come with a two-year warranty.
Alex Rabar, interim director of public safety, and Melissa Ramirez, senior public safety coordinator, did not respond to a request to comment.
