Students requesting a ride from off-campus parties or housing to Washington and Lee’s health center can no longer call Public Safety. Instead, they must contact Traveller Dispatch, the university’s safe-ride system that operates from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. every night.
Chief Public Safety Officer Alex Rabar said the change represents a clarification rather than a shift in policy. Off-campus housing has never been part of Public Safety’s patrol or response area, Rabar said.
“Some former Public Safety personnel had taken it upon themselves to patrol and respond in that area,” Rabar said in an emailed statement to the Phi. “But this was not an official or authorized practice,” he said.
But Ali Wills, ’27, said Public Safety vehicles were a common sight at parties last year. She said she saw Public Safety cars at Windfall Hill about every other weekend.
In January, former Public Safety Officer Austin Reter was fired for reasons that included providing students rides from off-campus parties, according to previous Phi reporting.
Reter said that his intention was to prevent students from walking or driving while drunk. He was fired without a hearing, which led students to protest anonymously on social media.
The policy change has been met with confusion and concerns among students. Some remain unaware of it.
“Are Public Safety and the Traveller Dispatch the same number?” said Ella Wang, ’26, “I don’t know anything about this new policy.”
The absence of formal communication from the administration has been a source of frustration among students. Some said the change was implemented without their knowledge.
Traveller Dispatch Chair Nolan Rickett, ’27, said that this policy change was an adaptation to the new location of the university health center.
The newly built Lindley Center for Student Wellness, which now houses both the health center and counseling center, is located at 200 E. Denny Circle, across the street from the Traveller bus stop at the Woods Creek Apartments. Rickett said that means students can ride Traveller straight to the health center.
“If the buses can service people going to the health center most of the time, we want to use that as a resource,” Rickett said. “We have only two cars running in our dispatch service.”
Rickett said Traveller monitors – student employees who ride on the buses to keep an eye on passengers – are trained to understand symptoms of alcohol poisoning and perform first aid.
Some students still view Public Safety’s lack of involvement as an unnecessary risk. But the transfer of responsibility from Public Safety to Traveller Dispatch has so far gone largely unnoticed in the daily life of students.
“I’ve only worked on four calls this semester,” Rickett said. “We haven’t had any difficulties yet.”
