As Marietta College students are returning to campus, they're finding new security measures that have been added over the summer following two residence hall attacks during the spring semester.

Each hallway now has at least one emergency phone, something previously limited to a few indoor locations and several outdoor spots on the campus.

The phones weren't heavily used in the past but that doesn't mean they don't make the campus more secure, said David Valkinburg, director of campus police.

"Just because they're not used doesn't mean that they're not deterring crime," he said. "It's hard to measure prevention."

In addition to the phones, each hallway also now has a system for getting emergency messages to students.

Using the campus radio station, sirens can go off in hallways and a message will scroll across providing information if an emergency arises, said Valkinburg.

"We tested it to make sure you can hear it at any point in the hallways," he said.

The college's physical plant workers have also been busy replacing wooden doors with metal ones, adding grab-resistant handles and placing security screens in all first-floor windows.

In Parsons Hall, suite doors will now automatically lock and all building card readers have been checked to make sure they're operational.

One Fourth Street house for students even has a card reader outside the restrooms, at the request of the female students who live there, Valkinburg said.

"A lot of this we did with student input," he said. "And they've been really impressed."

Marietta College student Maria Murray said she has always viewed the campus as a safe place but now feels even more secure.

"I think it's good to do as much as you can to make the campus safe," she said. "I feel good here, and I don't know anyone who doesn't. You have to be careful anywhere, but this is a safe place."

There were two attacks on female students last semester that helped prompt the security additions. In February, a student reported she had been raped in her Parsons Hall room, and in May, a student said she fought off an attacker who came into her unlocked dorm room while she was sleeping, also at Parsons Hall.

There have been no arrests in either case.

Valkinburg said the campus police department continues to work with the Marietta Police Department and the Washington County Sheriff's Office on both cases.

"We've run down about all the leads we had, but we're still waiting for some crime lab results," he said. "We're still working on them."

Along with the new safety measures, student cooperation and common sense will be important in the upcoming school year to keep the campus safe, Valkinburg said. He held an orientation for freshmen Saturday to go over some tips.

"The physical things are there to keep everyone safe," he said. "But you can still prop doors and let people in that you shouldn't if you want to. Students will have to take some responsibility themselves, too, to really make everything work."