Student Eyes and Ears for University Safety, a student-operated group created by Eastern Michigan University's Police Department, is available for students when walking around campus after dark. Currently, SEEUS is looking to hire more EMU students.
Operating Monday-Friday from 5-10 p.m., SEEUS offers escorts with both its walking groups, as well as vans, where students can be driven to further out sections of campus. Both of these services can be requested by approaching the workers, wearing bright yellow jackets with the word 'SEEUS' on the back, or by contacting the group through phone at 734-487-3387.
SEEUS also performs a nightly door check, ensuring that each building on-campus is properly locked, as well as checking the emergency stations across campus to ensure their function.
While overseen by DPS, SEEUS allows for students to get experience in task delegation and team leadership through employing student supervisors.
"As a mentor, I try to let the student supervisors work with me collaboratively to sort out the groups, however they want to do it," Joseph Torres said, who works as an administrative sergeant at EMU DPS. "We've had things as interesting as entries into Relay For Life, where the students organized it and decided that's what they wanted to with their time here as Eastern students."
According to Torres, the leadership opportunity offers a variety of different skills, including conflict resolution, payroll and everything else that goes into running an organization.
"I started off as a normal SEEUS employee. I came in and did the work, and now I'm learning a lot. It's broadened my experiences as an individual," Veerendra Dadi said, one of DPS' student SEEUS supervisors.
SEEUS is also planning a new project in collaboration with the Disability Resource Center, set to start sometime in March. The collaboration comes after students in the Disability Revolution Club and outside of it expressed concern for campus accessibility for students with disabilities throughout the wintertime.
Among the students advocating for more awareness was Spencer Lyke, a graduate assistant studying social work at EMU, and member of the Disability Revolution Club.
"I'm excited for the opportunity," Lyke said in regard to the upcoming collaboration. They will be one of a handful of student representatives working with SEEUS to map out certain areas of campus that tend to see more hazardous snowfall.
Concerns regarding Immigration Customs and Enforcement activity have left students and staff at EMU wondering what resources are available on-campus to ensure their safety in the event of a run-in with an ICE agent. According to Torres, students working for SEEUS are instructed to notify EMU DPS if they notice any on-campus ICE activity.
All encounters with federal law enforcement should be reported to DPS at 734-487-1222, according to EMU's official legal affairs webpage.
For those looking to locate SEEUS in person, the group is most often found patrolling the EMU Student Center. For more information on the service, visit the EMU Police website.
For those interested in working for SEEUS, download the application available on the EMU DPS website. Completed applications should be returned in person to the police station, located near the EMU Trinity Health Center, or sent by email to seeussupervisors@gmail.com.
