Nicole Auerbach, who covers college sports for The Athletic and USA Today, tweeted Wednesday that a Power Five school that plays many of its football games at night contacted her Tuesday about steps it could take to ensure her safety and that of other women members of the media during the post-game trek from the stadium to their cars.
"So, something cool happened yesterday. Someone who works for a Power Five school that has a lot of night games called me up to ask what they could do for women covering the game who will need to walk alone to their cars at, like, 2am," Auerbach wrote, later adding, "Lots of female reporters like myself think about our safety in situations like this all the time. (I used to carry pepper spray. Yes, even in a stadium parking lot!) It's wonderful to know that people are being proactive."
Among the options discussed during Auerbach's "great conversation" with the yet-unnamed school were better lighting, a more obvious police presence and athletic department officials walking reporters to their vehicles, with the latter offer possibly appearing in game notes that are handed to media members. "I thought that was important for women who maybe didn't feel comfortable asking," Auerbach tweeted.
As Kim Constantinesco wrote for Fansided, "For a Power Five football program to take-charge and try to prevent the worst is a thoughtful, albeit, necessary step. After all, the headlines should be about the game itself, not a tragedy that occurred after the stadium lights cooled down. Here’s to other teams and leagues following suit, not only for women, but men, too."
