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Safety & Security  —  Safety & Security

Campus Safety

Mission Statement

The Mission of Campus Safety is to monitor, secure, report, and enhance the living, learning, and working experience at Goshen College. Forming an alliance with the community that we serve, we are committed to the philosophy of “Community Care-taking” while working with local police, fire department, students, staff, and faculty to build lasting partnerships.

About Campus Safety

Campus Safety is part of Student Life at Goshen College. The Campus Safety Office is located on the north end of the first floor of Wyse Hall. Campus Safety officers are on campus and available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year at 574-535-7599. Campus Safety officers can also be reached by email at safety@goshen.edu or by visiting the director’s office at RFC-101D during business hours.

We secure 135 acres on campus, including 13 parking lots, and 19 major buildings each and every day with physical lockdowns, patrols, and walkthroughs. Campus Safety officers are also responsible for maintaining fire extinguishers, conducting evacuation drills, enforcing parking regulations, and assisting residence hall staff with emergencies, disturbances, and enforcement of college policies.

Campus Safety Officers are unarmed and unsworn and do not have law enforcement authority or the power to arrest. However, an excellent relationship exists between the Campus Safety Office and the Goshen Police Department. We regularly meet with a representative of the Goshen Police Department who serves as a liaison for our office. While on duty, Campus Safety officers check in regularly with Goshen Police and the Director of Student Life Operations as responsibilities dictate incidents that occur in and around the campus area. There is no written memorandum of understanding between the Goshen Police Department and Campus Safety. When applicable, Campus Safety will also work with Goshen Hospital, Elkhart County Sheriff’s Department, and the Indiana State Police.

We recommend that students, faculty, and staff store the Campus Safety phone number to the contacts of their smartphones.

Campus Safety Resources

Security Cameras and ID Card Access Readers on Campus

We currently have 86 Cameras installed on campus designed to deter crime and monitor inactive buildings. Cameras are visible and strategically installed in public areas on campus most prone to crime. All residence halls and apartments have 24-hour ID Card Access control that prohibits non-GC-affiliated persons or solicitors from entering residential student spaces. Residence hall floor entry doors are on ID access control 24/7 and locked Sunday – Thursday at 11 PM and at 1 AM on Fridays and Saturdays for students of the opposite sex. Exterior door access is locked and closed from 12AM-7AM in the Student Apartments, Kulp Hall, and the KMY Connector to residents only during that time. For security reasons, hallway doors must not be propped open. Residential students can use their IDs to enter floors and leave when they choose. More information about Security Cameras on campus can be found here on our website.

Parking on Campus

All faculty, staff, and students who wish to park a motor vehicle on campus must have proper insurance and a current license plate and tags.

Vehicle Registration
Motor vehicle registration at Goshen College is FREE and MANDATORY. Registration is completed online here on our website. Permits will be sent via campus mail or distributed during check-in at new student day orientation. Parking stickers should be displayed on the front windshield lower passenger side of registered vehicles. Parking stickers for motorbikes and scooters should be placed on the rear fender in a clearly visible position. Students and employees with a documented medical conditions may apply for a special permit at the Student Life office that allows parking in restricted areas. You can view the complete Motor Vehicle Regulations guide here on our website prior to registering your car.

Responding to an Emergency

If the emergency requires the presence of police, fire department, or an ambulance–we recommend that all students, faculty, and staff first call 911, and then notify Campus Safety at 574-535-7599. Campus Safety should always be notified if the police or an ambulance are called onto campus, you observe a fire inside a campus building, witness a crime, or encounter a hostile intruder. In any situation, Campus Safety will then notify the designated campus contact according to the situation. Should an emergency have the potential of becoming a crisis, the Crisis Management Coordinator (CMC) will be contacted and our crisis management plan will be enacted. For more information about how we respond to campus emergencies and weather-related closings, please visit this page on our website.

Tornadoes and Severe Weather

In most situations, there is a designated storm shelter in every building on campus. Emergency flip charts are posted prominently in each building identifying these locations as well as alternative locations in adjacent buildings. Everyone should make it a priority to become familiar with where these storm shelters are located in each building you work, live, or study. Tornadoes usually provide very little warning, so knowing where to go in the case of a tornado warning is one of the best ways to be prepared. A tornado watch indicates that weather conditions are favorable for a tornado to form. A tornado warning indicates a tornado has either been directly observed or identified by Doppler radar.

Students, faculty, and staff will be alerted in several ways when a Tornado Warning is issued. The City of Goshen Tornado Sirens will sound during a warning. Those registered for GC alerts (see e2Campus below) will receive a text message about the tornado warning. Whenever a tornado warning has been sounded, everyone should immediately report to the nearest designated storm shelter where they should remain until the storm has passed. Wait for the all-clear message before leaving the shelter. Because it is not always possible to hear the siren inside buildings, everyone should make an effort to spread the word as quickly as possible if they become aware of a warning. It is recommended that everyone utilize weather notifications from their favorite smartphone weather app to assist in knowing when severe weather is imminent.

Fire Safety Precautions

Any alteration of the electrical wiring, switches, or receptacles is prohibited. Multiple outlet devices without built-in circuit breakers, such as adapters or cubes are prohibited. Students are required to remove and replace any inappropriate extension cords or multiple outlet adapters at their expense.

In addition to being a federal offense, there is a fine for tampering with fire fighting equipment, fire extinguishers, smoke detectors, sprinkler heads, or sounding a false fire alarm. If the responsible party cannot be determined, all members of a housing unit may be charged Community Billing. Any student who sets off a building fire alarm due to an act or behavior that is not in compliance with the community standards or residence hall policies could be fined in excess of $150. Examples include smoke detection due to burning candles, incense, or smoking in the residence halls.

Fire Drills

In cooperation with the Goshen City fire department, unannounced evacuation drills are conducted each semester in all residence halls, apartments, and academic buildings. All fire alarms should be treated as if they are real emergencies. Students, faculty, and staff should evacuate buildings quickly using the nearest exit and closing doors behind them.

Railroad Safety

Crossing the railroad tracks at any location on campus other than designated crossing paths is strictly prohibited. Anyone caught illicitly crossing the tracks or crossing between cars of a stopped train will be subject to fines by Student Life or ticketed for trespassing by the Goshen Police Department or railroad company. Students, faculty, and staff should take extreme caution when approaching railroad tracks; removing headphones, eliminating any unnecessary distractions, and always looking both ways before attempting to cross.

Crisis Situations

A crisis is an event, condition, or situation that has the potential to cause harm or injury to an individual(s) and/or damage to property and/or significantly disrupt the operation of the institution, threaten the institution’s financial standing or its ability to fulfill the institution’s mission beyond the immediacy of an emergency. An emergency must be addressed instantaneously whereas a crisis can endure for an extended period of time. In a crisis situation, students, faculty, and staff east of the railroad tracks are to gather in the Music Center; those on the west side of the railroad tracks should meet in the church chapel.

Omnilerts Campus Alerts

To help ensure the safety of our students and employees, Goshen College has partnered with Omnilert to provide a multi-tier emergency notification system that includes the following options: email, siren, SMS (Text messaging), and network notification to Macs and PC’s. Campus Safety will utilize the mobile app Omnilert to notify students, faculty, and staff about potential severe weather, sheltering, lockdowns, evacuations, emergencies, and potential campus closings. All students, faculty, and staff are automatically enrolled in Omnilert unless they contact Campus Safety to opt-out of receiving these helpful notifications. For more information about campus safety alerts click here. 

Download the Goshen Police Department Active Shooter Training Audio
(March 27th, 2018)

Reporting Crimes on Campus

We encourage all members of the campus community to report non-emergency crimes (thefts, car break-ins, vandalism) to Campus Safety prior to contacting the police. Campus Safety officers can help you facilitate a crime report internally and contact the police on your behalf. For serious crimes involving personal injuries, harassment, or an active campus safety threat, we recommend that all students, faculty, and staff first call 911, and then notify Campus Safety at 574-535-7599. For more information about reporting a crime on our campus, visit the crime portion of our website here.

For crimes related to sexual misconduct, you should refer to the Sexual Assault & Misconduct portion of our website at https://www.goshen.edu/sexual-assault/reporting/form/.

You can request a hard copy of the Daily Crime Log from the Director of Student Life Operations Monday-Friday 8:30 AM-4:30 PM in Wyse 121. For a look back at the past three years of Clery reportable crimes on campus, you can download the Annual Campus Safety and Security Report on the Campus Safety website.

Safety Tips

Protect Your Property

  • Personal property (backpacks, computers, electronic technology) should never be left unattended or accessible. Keep these items with you or secure them in your residence hall room.
  • Do not leave valuables in plain view. Take valuable items with you over academic calendar breaks.
  • Lock your door whenever you leave your residence hall room.
  • Do not loan your key to others.
  • Never prop exterior or floor doors open.
  • Never open exterior residence hall doors for strangers.

Protect your Car

  • Always lock your car.
  • Avoid leaving personal property visible inside your car
  • Utilize your trunk space if you must leave valuables inside your vehicle.

Protect your Bike 

  • Park your bike in the designated bike racks on campus.
  • Use a quality bike lock at all times when storing or parking your bike. Do not use wired or rope locks to secure your bike. We recommend the U-Bar style Kryptonite locks if parking it on campus or consider storing your bike inside your room if it’s valuable.
  • Register your bike with the City of Goshen at the Physical Plant for $5 to increase the likelihood of getting your bike back should it be stolen.

Protect Yourself

  • Avoid walking or jogging alone at night in dark areas such as the millrace, dam, bike path and Witmer Woods.
  • Be aware of your surroundings. If you suspect you are being followed, seek a well-lit area or group of people as quickly as possible. If a well-lit location is not readily accessible, call campus safety at 574-535-7599 for an escort or yell and scream and create a commotion.
  • Always have your keys ready as you come and go from your vehicle and residence hall.
  • If you choose to drink alcohol off-campus, please do so in moderation and do not return to campus alone or intoxicated. Many instances of personal, physical, and emotional harm are related to excessive alcohol use.
  • Take seriously and respond to any fire or weather-related alarms on campus.

Be Aware and Report

  • Be aware of suspicious persons in and around college buildings. Call Campus Safety or a residence life staff member to report the individual(s) regardless of any “cover story” they may provide.
  • Door-to-door solicitation is prohibited on campus and should be reported to Campus Safety or residence life staff immediately.
  • Report all thefts or property loss/damage to Campus Safety and the Goshen Police Department immediately.

Health Emergency Contact Information

In the event of a mental health emergency, please contact your Residence Life Coordinator or the Director of Counseling Services. At night and over weekends a Residence Life Coordinator will contact an on-call counselor. In the case of an emotional emergency and campus help is not available, contact Oaklawn at 574-533-1234.

Goshen First Aid Ambulance — 911 or 9-911
On-Call Residence Life (OCRD) — 574-535-7273
Campus Safety — 574-535-7599
Goshen General Hospital ER — 574-533-2141
Goshen Police Department Non-Emergency Dispatch — 574-533-4151
Nick Kauffman (Goshen Police Department Liason for Goshen College) — 574-537-3801

Thanks for playing it safe!

Chad Coleman

Chad Coleman

Director of Campus Safety

Campus Safety