UF's Student Government and the UF Naval ROTC are working together to help students feel safe enough to run after dark.
The program, called Safe Run, will provide students who want to run on campus between the hours of 7 p.m. and 10 p.m., Monday through Thursday, with a running partner from UF's NROTC.
The program begins Sept. 1.
Brian Prior, coordinator of Safe Run and a volunteer runner, said the idea behind the program is that by running in groups, students are less likely to be attacked.
Samantha Sexton, a member of Student Senate's Student Safety Committee and a leader of the project, said the safety of student runners is an issue because UF is an open, public campus.
"There are conspicuous hiding places that predators, if they wanted to, could hide," Sexton said.
"We don't want our students to be discouraged from working out and leading a healthy life."
Ryan O'Mara, chairman of the Student Safety Committee, said plans for the program were "catapulted forward" after a recent incident at Haile Plantation, where a jogger was attacked and raped.
O'Mara said by having an NROTC-trained runner by students' sides, the chances of a similar incident occurring on campus is "slim to none."
Sexton said students could schedule a weekly running appointment, which would eliminate the need to call before every session.
There are eight projected locations spread across campus where students can meet their partners: Beaty Towers Commons, Southwest Recreation Center, Lakeside Residential Complex, Hume Hall, the Racquet Club, Broward Dining, Norman Field and Gator Corner Dining Center.
The program is free to UF students.
T-shirts for the NROTC runners, who are volunteers, will be funded by the Activity and Service Fee collected from tuition.
Students go through a background check performed by the U.S. Department of Defense to join the NROTC program, Prior said.
Students are asked to call NROTC at least one hour before they want to run, and a volunteer will take down their name, number and where they would like to meet their running partner.
To contact NROTC and schedule a run, students can call (352) 392-0973.
