The NU Alert system is an emergency broadcast communication system that Northeastern University uses to inform the community of “emergencies and urgent situations that require immediate action,” according to the school’s website. Most commonly, it lets students know about inclement weather. However, the university should expand the alert system to inform students living off campus of incidents taking place in their neighborhood.
Living in a city, crime is inevitable. This can be hard to comprehend when you’re living on campus and the worst thing that happens involves someone getting caught smoking weed down the hall. However, most people understand that there are frequent break-ins, stabbings and murders going on throughout Boston, many near campus.
Currently, just over half of Northeastern’s students live on campus, which means a good amount live off campus, in communities like Mission Hill, the Fenway and Jamaica Plain. While the school is not responsible for what happens to students off campus, it would be a nice gesture to alert them of possible dangers to be aware of when making their way home after classes.
Just last Wednesday morning, multiple news sources reported on a teenager who was stabbed in the South End, at the intersection of Cunard and Tremont Streets – a short walk from Roxbury Crossing and an area where many students live. Not to mention, Northeastern Police regularly patrol and respond to incidents in that area, which is one block away from Coventry Street where Northeastern houses students. Later that same day, Universal Hub reported on another stabbing at Parker and Ruggles streets – right next to West Village A.

The same day, the Boston Globe reported that police were called to 300 Massachusetts Avenue, next to the Christian Science Center, to respond to claims of a man with a mask and gun. Multiple officers responded and the area was flooded with cruisers. It turned out to be a false alarm, but had the man had a gun, tons of students would have gone by a potentially dangerous area. Instead, many Northeastern students had no idea what happened.
On September 5, Fox 25 reported on multiple men who were stabbed on Yawkey Way in the early hours of the morning. The Jamaica Plain Patch reported on September 8 that a 19-year-old was shooting at officers pursuing him in the Jackson Square area. The list goes on.
In the past, Northeastern administrators have said that since an incident doesn’t occur on campus, it isn’t their responsibility to inform students. However, when something happens as close by as the Christian Science Center, or Columbus Avenue, it really should be. Most students will wander to both of those places throughout the school day. As far as areas like Mission Hill, Jamaica Plain, and the Fenway area – yes, they are farther off campus. However, a lot of students live in these places, some not by choice, but because there is no room on campus. Surely, Northeastern cares if their students are unknowingly walking into a shootout after a long day of classes.
We have a good alert system already set up but Northeastern should expand the NU Alert system to include major crimes that happen in areas students frequent. Knowledge is power, and it can only help to increase the safety of students living off campus.