This year marks the 5-year anniversary of one of Auburn's best-remembered students, Lauren Burk.
The then freshman at Auburn was murdered March 4, 2008 after being abducted on campus.
Burk's murder sparked many changes in the Auburn community regarding security.
"I think it kind of woke us up to realize that something like that can happen in Auburn," said Thomas Dawson, police chief for Auburn. "We tried to really increase our patrols a lot more."
Along with increased patrols, Dawson said the Auburn Police Department worked with Auburn University to add more security measures on campus.
"Well we were already in the process - we were working with the AU public safety- of adding cameras on campus so we continued that," Dawson said.
The cameras on campus are monitored 24 hours a day, Dawson said.
Melvin Owens, executive director of Public Safety and Security became safety director in November 2007 said that they have also worked towards creating a safer campus.
"We've incorporated a lot of partners in terms of student affairs; there is a threat assessment team; there's counseling services in terms of resident life; components that start working together collaboratively to see what we could do to ensure and enhance safety on campus," Owens said. "We've increased technology in terms of cameras across campus. We've increased the number of security personnel on campus."
Owens also mentioned the campus's shuttle system that has become more efficient.
"We increased our shuttle system," Owens said. "Before it worked, but it cut off around 2 in the morning. Now we go from 6 at night to 7 in the morning. That is any place on campus to any place on campus. Last year we transported more than 204 thousand people."
Jacie Coressel, a junior in political science, is a member of Delta Gamma sorority, the same as Burk.
"Every year on the day of her death we honor her in chapter and have a memorial service," Coressel said. "We had a ritual that honored her life and went through and read her goals that she wrote as a freshman and had a nice ceremony."
Coressel said that some of Burk's goals she wrote down her freshman year in Delta Gamma were to swim laps every day, always present herself and Delta Gamma in the best way possible, to get a 3.5 GPA and to be more outgoing and meet more people.
Coressel said panhellenic held a training the year after Burk's death.
"Everyone went through a self-defense training because she was abducted in the Hill," Coressel said. "It could happen to anyone, so they wanted us to be aware of our surroundings at all times."
Owens said they also work with training individuals in education and defense.
"We do a lot of training sessions," Owens said. "We do a lot with resident's life. We do a rape aggression, a R.A.D. program, that we do specifically for women. We go through sororities and fraternities and so that through student affairs we have a lot of threat assessment."
Owens also said that people need to continue to stay aware at Auburn.
"It's so huge and so open" Owens said. "A lot of people are so trusting. Here I think sometimes we delude ourselves into thinking nothing can happen here. We fail to remember the lessons we already know. "
Dawson also said he encourages women to not walk or jog at night by themselves.
Dawson said he has a 19-year-old daughter himself and said he can't imagine having to receive that phone call.
"As a parent, it's the image I never get out of my mind. I see it daily- going into the hospital and you think that not for the grace of God, it could've been my daughter."
Dawson said that no matter what the kind of death, it never becomes easy to tell a parent fatal news.
"You never get used to talking to a parent and telling them their child is not coming home, just like the three young men this summer who are not going home," Dawson said, referring to the recent shootings in Auburn in June 2012.
He said that the police department takes any crime on campus very seriously, wanting to prevent any reoccurrence of Lauren Burk's situation.
"And that's one of the reasons I work so hard and our officers work so hard, is to make sure that we can protect all of our students," Dawson said. "Because we have almost 25,000 kids and I feel like the parents, they entrust us with their welfare."
Lauren Burk's memory continues to live on in those who knew her and those who hear her story.
Lauren's friends remember her by her favorite quote, "We live in a beautiful world."
Names also contributed to this story: Sydney Callis and Chandler Jones.
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