Marshall University Police Department officers will be on hand to speak with students from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday and Tuesday on the Memorial Student Center Plaza. Joining them from 1:30-3 p.m. will be Beau Evans, traffic safety director for the city of Huntington, who will demonstrate a distracted driving simulator. The simulator highlights the risks drivers face behind the wheel and reinforces the shared responsibility of both drivers and pedestrians in preventing accidents.
The campaign, called Heads Up, Herd, reminds pedestrians to keep their heads up and their eyes off cell phones, to cross streets at designated crosswalks, to always look left, right and left again before crossing, and to make sure they are visible to oncoming drivers.
Throughout the week, pedestrian safety reminders will be displayed across campus, including yard signs, sidewalk messages and flyers placed on every residence hall floor. Informational handouts will be available during tabling events at the student center.
At the start of the fall 2025 semester, Marshall instructors were also provided with a short pedestrian safety PowerPoint to share with students, reinforcing safety messages in the classroom.
In recent years, additional steps have been taken to improve safety on major thoroughfares near campus including a speed reduction from 35 mph to 25 mph on 3rd and 5th Avenues between Hal Greer Boulevard and 20th Street. The city of Huntington also completed a crosswalk on 20th Street between 3rd and 5th Avenues to provide safer access to the Marshall Recreation Center and Joan C. Edwards Stadium. Push buttons on each side trigger flashing beacon lights to alert motorists in both lanes when pedestrians are preparing to enter the crosswalk.
The Heads Up, Herd campaign emphasizes the importance of awareness and caution for both students and drivers. Marshall encourages all members of the campus community to keep their heads up, put their phones away, and follow safety rules every time they are on or near campus streets.