Pedestrian safety message

Dear Purdue students, faculty and staff colleagues,

Purdue Homecoming 2023 is here. And our normally bustling campus will be even busier this weekend, with thousands of Boilermaker alumni, family and friends joining our buzzing community of 60,000 students, faculty and staff for this wonderful annual tradition.

That means we all must place even greater vigilance on safety as we mix pedestrians, bicyclists, skateboards, and motorized and manual scooters with the additional visitors and fans for the full lineup of homecoming happenings across our beautiful campus.

Along with our outstanding Purdue public safety team, our Action Council on Student Housing and Wellbeing reminds our students, faculty, staff and visitors to put safety first at all times while navigating our busy streets, sidewalks and bicycle paths. One important reminder for bicyclists and scooter users: Please return these to their safe spots on or near campus. We ask everyone to play their part by simply paying attention to their surroundings.

In placing a renewed emphasis on pedestrian safety, our Action Council will partner with Purdue’s safety experts in Administrative Operations to soon launch a study to consider additional steps for enhanced public safety on campus. Our plan is to draw collective input from Purdue students, faculty and staff — including leaders in Purdue Student Government, Purdue Graduate Student Government, the University Senate, MaPSAC (Management and Professional Staff Advisory Committee) and CSSAC (Campus Support Staff Advisory Committee) — and the city of West Lafayette’s traffic safety officials.

Launched in January to provide an environment for success for all our students, faculty and staff, our Actional Council was created for such matters on our campus that require heightened attention — to be nimble and proactive in its mandate. Pedestrian safety is a key concern for the work of the Action Council, and a report on the study’s findings will be provided to the campus community upon its completion.

As we prepared for this semester, Administrative Operations partnered with the city of West Lafayette to reduce the speed limits for roads and streets on and around campus. Lower vehicle speeds lead to safer pedestrian movement, especially on a large college campus like Purdue.

Additional information about pedestrian safety is available on the Transportation Services website.

As Boilermaker family, friends and fans join us on campus this weekend to celebrate this special annual university tradition, we wish you all an enjoyable and safe homecoming.

Boiler Up! Hail Purdue. And Happy Homecoming 2023.

Patrick Wolfe
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Diversity

Michael B. Cline, Senior Vice President for Administrative Operations