BATON ROUGE -- Students are back on LSU's campus, and one group is working to make sure women have a safe ride home.

Girls Rides started after the death of LSU student Madison Brooks in 2023. At first it was a group chat among 15 women.

Now it's a recognized student organization with more than 1,600 members.

"We wanted to focus on becoming a women's-focused safety group and providing free rides to girls so they never have to be put into such horrible situations ever again," said Adriana Caldcleugh, the group's president.

Girls Rides verifies that participants are students.

"We go through a verification process where you have to say your first and last name and your LSU email to verify that you are a student. We go through the directory to make sure that you are a girl at LSU," Caldcleugh said.

If someone in the chat needs a ride, they just send a text, and someone who can drive will offer to come get them. Then, they'll take them wherever they need to go at any time. The organization says on average they give about five or six rides a day.

"Some people have even gotten rides at concerts in Texas or even like nearby states, or even just going back home, they'll ride with each other just to go back home for the break," said Bella Porche, the organization's secretary.

Becoming an official campus organization brings much-needed funding.

"This allows us to receive funding from the school which is huge for us because we have only been functioning off of donations lately which is greatly appreciated, but student funding is a huge plus for us," Caldcleugh said.

Girls Rides at LSU has also built many friendships among the women.

"Someone ended up needing a ride and or wanting to go to a function that I wanted to go to as well and I was like, 'Let's bite the bullet and just go with.' We ended up putting together this really big group of like 4 or 5 girls and we all went," member Zeah Reviere said.

The organization has inspired women at Southern, Northwestern State, and Southeastern Louisiana University to start their own Girls Rides programs, with the possibility of programs spreading to schools outside of the state.