chargeFUZE Addresses Critical Gap in Campus Safety: The Dead Phone

LOS ANGELES, April 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Every campus safety system built in the last decade, from SMS alerts to mass notification to safety apps, depends on one thing: a phone that's on.

74% of college students feel unsafe walking home in the dark, and 75% say carrying their phone is how they protect themselves (ADT/Clery Center, 2021). A dead phone is not an inconvenience. It is a safety failure.

chargeFUZE, a portable device charging network active across universities, including the University of Chicago, University of Michigan, Boston College, Bowie State University, and the University of Maryland, is expanding across higher education to close this gap.

The phone is the safety system.

A 2025 national survey of 1,500 women found 70% rely on texting or calling to communicate their whereabouts, with 62% of women ages 18 to 25 using location-sharing apps as a daily safety strategy (LogicMark/OnePoll, 2025). A 2025 Campus Safety Magazine survey of 250+ campus safety professionals found 94% of colleges use SMS text alerts as their primary emergency notification method. Universities are removing legacy blue light phones, citing near-universal smartphone ownership, while building safety infrastructure that assumes a charged device.

No one is ensuring that assumption holds.

Universities are already seeing this play out. "Maintaining reliable cell phone access is a top priority on gamedays for safety, and more recently, for access to mobile tickets. With more than 100,000 fans at Michigan Stadium on football Saturdays, it's a point of emphasis to make sure cell phone signal strength (and Wi-Fi where available) is strong enough to allow everyone to send a text, make a phone call, and access mobile tickets," said Evan Mitchell, Senior Business Development Manager at the University of Michigan.

The stakes are not hypothetical.

RAINN, the nation's largest anti-sexual-violence organization, reports 13% of all college students experience rape or sexual assault, with more than 50% of incidents occurring during the "Red Zone" months of August through November (RAINN/AAU Campus Climate Survey, 2020). RAINN's own safety guidance asks students directly: "If your phone dies, do you have a few numbers memorized to get help?"

How it works.

Students either scan their campus ID, a QR code, or pay by credit card at a chargeFUZE kiosk to grab a portable charger. Universities deploy through several models, such as subscription or pay-per-use.

"Access to power is no longer a convenience. It is an essential piece of infrastructure for communication and safety. Every university offers Wi-Fi because connectivity is expected. Portable charging access should be no different," said Sierra Bloodgood Kurtzman, COO of chargeFUZE. "The institutions that understand this, that treat power as an essential service, are the ones setting themselves apart in how they support and protect their students."

As mobile devices remain the backbone of campus emergency communication, reliable access to power is not an amenity. It is infrastructure.

For more information, visit www.chargefuze.com.

About FUZE Technology:
FUZE Technology is a global network of IoT utilities backed by data-driven advertising. Renowned for its flagship product, chargeFUZE, FUZE pioneered the mobile charging landscape by offering seamless charging solutions across universities, stadiums, healthcare facilities, airports, entertainment venues, and more around the world.

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SOURCE FUZE Technology