By Amber Vaughn –

On April 1, the Tremendous Tau Colony Lambda Divas of NJCU hosted self-defense classes in Multi-Purpose Room A with instructors from Tiger Schulmann’s Karate, and sponsored by Lambda Sigma Upsilon.

Prior to this event, there was an incident on February 20 in which an NJCU student pulled a gun on two men while a Meet the Greeks event was taking place. Nonetheless, students who are residing on campus still fear for their safety. With this in mind, should New Jersey City University provide self-defense workshops to students who live on and off campus?

22-year-old Biology major, VP of Haitian Student Association, and Resident Assistant, Romual Souverain says, “A self defense workshop won’t solve the fact that people fear for their safety. I think what might help is more public safety cars patrolling the area around campus, as well as a better transportation service for the students.”

“I think self defense classes are great in general and would encourage anyone to take one. We have a martial arts club on campus, and I am sure they would be helpful.” says Assistant Dean of Students Armani Jennings.

I think that self-defense classes should be provided to all students at New Jersey City University because it might give students on- and off- campus the knowledge of what to do in case they’re in a situation where they can fight their way out of. It might not be a solution to all the problems concerning, but it’s a step in the right direction. In addition, I also think that having more safety patrol cars should be added on campus when students arrive and leave their late evening classes. However, as much as the situation with transportation has been approached, it is never going to change for the four years students are spending their college years here. It’s always better to take a step ahead towards making students safer on campus than to take a big leap solving the problem all at once and getting no results.