Froggie Five-0 was created 13 years ago to provide transportation for female students to make campus safer. This year, student leaders on campus are asking why men can’t get rides too.

TCU Police officer Pam Christian spoke at a Residence Hall Association meeting Nov. 4 about safety on campus and the availability of student escorts. Among the topics discussed included adding male student pick-ups by Froggie-Five-0, Residence Hall Association President Eric Russell said.

Russell, a sophomore psychology major, said he thought male pick-up was a great idea, especially for male students who may not feel confident enough to defend themselves.

“Guys who aren’t as bulky as those huge football players, who can defend themselves easily, the little guys probably need as much protection as women do,” Russell said.

There is reluctance to open Froggie Five-0 services to male students because it would increase general use of the service, Russell said. To handle that increase, the police department would need more golf carts to provide for more drivers, he said.

To solve that problem, Russell said getting more golf carts could be approved by the board of trustees, who oversee the entire Froggie Five-0 program. To make that happen, he suggested students voice their opinions to RHA and the Student Government Association.

“We need to know that information (from the students) so we can get ideas get potential solutions and bring it to the board of trustees,” Russell said.

SGA Vice President Matt Dietrichson said the biggest problem is keeping the service readily available to everyone if the number of people using it increases.

“They don’t want to compromise the current service for the girls,” Dietrichson said. “There had been some concern early on … guys would abuse it.”

Dietrichson said he wished there wasn’t a black and white rule of no men. He said if there was an empty seat on the cart and no woman to fill it, then a man should be able to ride in that place.

Christian was out of town and could not be reached for comment.

TCU Police Sgt. Alvin Allcon said he doesn’t see a strong need for male students to utilize Froggie Five-0.

“From my perspective, we don’t think of the males having a problem … For the most part they’re not the victims of sexual assault,” Allcon said.

The program is meant to prevent crime by being a door-to-door service for women within campus grounds, Allcon said.

Dietrichson said he hopes the policy will change next semester to allow men to ride Froggie-Five-0.

However, Allcon said the policy probably wouldn’t change.

“I wouldn’t think that (the police) would be inclined to do that,” Allcon said. “I haven’t heard any discussion of it.”