CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — As universities and colleges around North Carolina start welcoming students back on campus for their first day of classes, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has some updates to keep their students safe.

What You Need To Know

  •  UNC had its first day of classes on Aug. 19 

  • This year UNC increased the number of cameras on buildings, improved access to camera footage for first responders and made sure that buildings and classrooms have working door locks

  • The updates come after a professor was killed on campus in August last year

To get ready for this school year, UNC has been looking at safety measures, especially after a professor was killed on campus in a shooting last August.

“I think just being like a public campus is definitely like a little nerve-wracking considering the events that went on with the shooting last year and just like everything going on,” Gabriella Delrio, a UNC student, said.

This year they increased the number of cameras on buildings, improved access to camera footage for first responders and made sure that buildings and classrooms have working door locks.

“I think it’s a step in the right direction. There are like so many things and the apps and the policies are constantly changing so it can be very challenging to keep up. So, I feel like once they are able to find like a clear pathway to balance that safety then I’ll feel more safe, though I don’t feel unsafe currently,” UNC student Kendall Ford said.

While the semester is just getting started, students say it’s crucial these conversations surrounding safety continue.

“Kind of seeing like how the campus is going to navigate allowing free speech and being a mediator between so many different opinions,” Ford said.

“Obviously, like the political turmoil, you know, election year, you know the shootings, all of the stuff together has created a lot of this tension in the air about how the school’s going to progress with it and I think as long as we can move forward in a way that values safety without compromising our ability to speak and have discussion and approach common ground on these topics, that would be the best to go about it,” Philip Sparling, a student, said.

“I don’t know what measures you can take to see who is on campus and needs to be on campus,” student Ashlyn Patton said. “We have an open campus so I would like to see something more implemented with that because you really don’t know who’s going to walk on.”