Loyola receives $450K MHEC grant to support campus security enhancements

Loyola University Maryland was recently awarded a $450,000 grant from the Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) to support security enhancements on the Evergreen campus. 

The funds will be used to replace the public safety dispatch operations console and install a new distributed antenna system (DAS) on two campus buildings to boost cell service. Loyola’s Department of Public Safety and Facilities and Campus Services will oversee the projects. 

The new dispatch operations console is a communications equipment upgrade that will enable Loyola police officers to better support the safety of the campus. It will also enhance their ability to monitor Belvedere Square, where the Loyola Clinical Centers are located. The DAS cell booster technology will be installed in the DeChiaro College Center and the Francis Xavier Knott, S.J., Knott Humanities Center, which will make the people who work, learn, and visit in those buildings safer by improving cell service for emergency calls on 248,000 additional square feet of campus.

“The funding from this grant will help us continue to enhance the overall safety and security of the campus, increasing our operational effectiveness and improving our communication and coordination in emergencies,” said Helen T. Schneider, interim vice president for administration and associate vice president for facilities and risk management. “We welcome these upgrades that help ensure agile communication as we continue to take steps to make Loyola’s campus safer and more secure.”

The funds are administered through MHEC’s Campus Safety Grant program, which awarded $18.75 million in grants to Maryland’s colleges and universities to facilitate on-campus public safety infrastructure improvements.