After the explosion in Argenta Hall on Friday, July 5, the University of Nevada, Reno was left with 42 days to accommodate for the needs of students planning to live on-campus. This meant partnering with Circus Circus using their “Sky Tower” to house the 1,300 students that would have otherwise lived in Argenta or Nye Hall.
Moving 1,300 students a mile from campus raised many safety concerns and the university took multiple measures to create a secure living space. University Police Services set up a substation in the building, and there is no casino access to the dorm rooms similar to a main campus residence hall.
Additionally, the Downtown Reno Partnership hired extra staff to make the students feel welcome in the downtown area.
In addition to those hired specifically for Wolf Pack Tower, DRP employs about 20 city ambassadors who work from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. to keep the streets of Reno clean, safe and enjoyable. They partner with the Reno Police Department and act as hospitality figures to help those who might need is. The extra staff will be available later in the night and earlier in the morning. The hours they work go as late as 3 a.m. and as early as 6:30 a.m.
Students are able to call the DRP safety ambassadors at a hotline available on their website. They are also able to ask questions and sign up for a newsletter.
Making sure that students have proper resources to contact is a goal of UNR and DRP. In an article written by the marketing manager of DRP, Mike Higdon, he explains that there will be more students living downtown with the completion of the new apartment complex, Canyon Flats.
The volume of students living downtown will be exponentially higher than in the past, totaling to around 2,000 after the apartment complex is built. Student safety is a priority for the hired ambassadors and they are available to all students who may find themselves downtown.
More information can be found at downtownreno.org. The ambassador hotline number is (775) 313-4080.
Sarah Strang can be found at sstrang@sagebrush.unr.edu or on Twitter @sarahstrang100.
