In the days since the disappearance of student Antinette “Toni” Keller, the NIU community has campaigned to raise awareness and show support for the missing girl and her family.

Students have signed letters for the family of Keller, made buttons and ribbons, handed out informational flyers and assisted in search parties.

“It’s really nice to see the university coming together,” said Pat McConville, junior political science and communications major.

The NIU community’s response has shown its strength, said junior communications major Aysha Flowers.

“We’ve grown,” she said. “We are coming together.”

Senior psychology major Heather Giless said the response to Keller’s disappearance has been quick and positive, something she said the NIU community learned from going through the Feb. 14, 2008 shootings.

“I think the quick response really makes me feel more safe,” she said. “If something like this happened to me, I know that the community [would] respond so fast and so together that it would be resolved as soon as possible.”

Other students feel varying degrees of safety on and off-campus after Keller’s disappearance.

Junior sociology major Karina Nellem said she “feel[s] less safe on campus and throughout the whole DeKalb area.”

“It’s scaring everybody,” she said. “It’s scaring me.”

Nellem said she would like to see more streetlights and the Huskie Patrol, a late-night walk service for students, available during the day,

Jonathan Phelps, senior information and engineering technology major said, “Compared to where else I have lived, [DeKalb] is unsafe.”

Freshman art major Kaylee Taylor said she thinks the disappearance of Keller is not a problem unique to DeKalb or NIU.

She said she doesn’t feel less safe because “[this type of thing] happens everywhere.”

Several students said that they feel safe because they know the precautions they are supposed to take.

“I’m aware of what we need to do to keep ourselves safe,” said Flowers. “I’ve been told many different times what you should do: travel in groups, let people know where you are.”

Nick Pontarelli, junior business administration major, said students should “be smart…you’re safe on campus, it’s when you go off it by yourself that you’re at risk.”

But disappearances can happen anywhere, he said.

“It shouldn’t have to be like that, but that’s just the way the times are and the world we live in.”