The Muslim Students’ Association partnered with the Muslim fraternity Alpha Lambda Mu to launch a new safety initiative on Oct. 20, providing students with a way to request an escort to walk them safely to their desired location “so no one must walk alone,” according to the Instagram account’s bio.
Students who request a walk through Amin Walk, which means safe in Arabic, can either fill out a Google Form or direct message the Instagram account to use the service, said an environmental engineer student, an Amin Walk operator who requested to remain anonymous due to their direct involvement in the service.
“Due to the recent events in Palestine, there has been a noticeable uptick in Islamophobia in and around the world and in the U.S.,” a post from the Amin Walk Instagram account said. “Due to the current climate, many feel unsafe walking alone, especially at night.”
Since its launch, Amin Walk has been used three times a week on average, said the environmental engineer student.
“It is very frustrating to feel like we have to be responsible for our own safety always,” said another Amin Walk operator, a corporate communications student who also requested to remain anonymous due to their direct involvement. “The service exists out of a need, not necessarily anything else.”
The environmental engineer student said the groups created the service out of a perceived lack of acknowledgment of Islamophobic incidents nationally and locally from the University.
“We’ve started this organization so that, if there’s anything we can do, at least we’re telling people that they won’t be subject to a hate crime while they’re walking home,” the environmental engineer student said.
Since Oct. 7, Islamophobic incidents have increased 182% nationwide, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, whose mission is “to enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.”
Amin Walk operates off-campus to better serve community needs, as services like SafeWalk only take requests originating from on-campus, the environmental engineer student said.
“There’s a masjid, which is a Muslim place of prayer, in West Campus on Nueces Street, so we’ve done quite a few walks from there to people’s homes,” the environmental engineer student said. “SafeWalk wouldn’t be an option for them.”
The environmental engineer student said Amin Walk vets escorts rigorously through character observation, which involves both an interview and analyzing a potential walker’s previous history of conduct.
Government sophomore Hiba Soban said she was glad that Amin Walk existed.
“I really do think it’ll help combat fears about safety,” Soban said. “But I think it’s a sad time we’re living in when students have to look out for each other because their institution hasn’t provided that.”
The operators said the goal of Amin Walk is to give another option for the community and provide peace of mind until the University provides greater protections for all students affected by the events in Palestine.
“We hope that in a semester or a year or even sooner, we won’t be around,” the environmental engineer student said. “Because that means that the University put something in place better than us, or something that can still do the same stuff we’re doing here.”
