On the Catwalk with FarmHouse

By Libby Noble

FarmHouse brother Dustin White escorts Leslie Howard, left, and Jackie Wahrmund.

Walking across a deserted campus late at night can put anyone ill at ease. Through a safety escort service, the men of FarmHouse fraternity are helping make those after-dark trips across campus less intimidating.
FarmHouse has been awarded the University of Kentucky contract for CatWalk, a program that provides escorts at no charge to people on campus who would like the security of another person’s presence.

According to FarmHouse president Nathan Lawson, CatWalk provides safety escorts from W.T. Young Library, conveniently located across the street from the FarmHouse residence, to anywhere else on campus Sunday through Thursday from 8:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. Individuals can request an escort by calling 323-FREE.
The project fits well with the fraternity’s philosophy of building character and serving others.
“Through the years, FarmHouse has been a very service-oriented fraternity at UK, and we pride ourselves on that. CatWalk is an opportunity for FarmHouse brothers to ‘build the whole man,’ serve the campus and the community, and open their hearts and minds to helping others in a selfless way,” Lawson said.

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The project has proved to be a popular one among the frat brothers. “We have 52 men involved; that’s 100 percent participation,” said Lawson. “We are good at sharing responsibility.”
Three men are on duty during the hours of service: two to escort, and one to handle the phoned-in requests. Escorts carry a two-way radio with them during the actual walk.

In an effort to expand the program, widen its service area, and speed up service, FarmHouse has requested and received approval for at least one six-passenger golf cart. They’ve also done some advertising to promote the service and increase its use. Through matching funds for advertising, the fraternity has been able to place fliers around campus and ads in the campus newspaper.

While the fraternity conducts many service projects throughout the year, this one will prove to be lucrative for the group. Lawson said FarmHouse will be paid $10,000 to run the program this year.
“We submitted our bid application, and we were awarded the service,” he said. Last year, the campus ROTC was in charge of CatWalk, but lost out in the bid process this year.
Lawson said the fraternity plans to use the income from the CatWalk services for their future housing needs.

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