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Who Says College Campuses Are Safe?
This article is reprinted from the
October 1989 issue of Reader's
Diifest.
by Marie Hodge and Jeff Blyskal
Jeanne Clery, Lehigh University
Class of '89, would have graduated
last June 4. Instead, her dreams and
her parents’ hopes for her ended
forever on April 5, 1986. At 5 a.m.
that day, the 19-year-old
freshman awoke to find fellow
student Joseph Henry burglarizing
her dorm room. Henry raped and
beat Jeanne savagely. Then he
strangled her.
At the University of California
at Berkeley in 1987, a gang of teens
police call a "rat pack" followed
three students to their dormitory.
Words were exchanged, and a pack
member suddenly smashed the face
of a female student with a brick.
Despite the idyllic images
college brochures present, violence
is a fact of life on the nation's
campuses. Last year colleges
reported to the FBI a total of 1990
violent crimes - robbery,
aggravated assault, rape and
murder. This is a startling number,
considering the fact that almost 90
percent of U.S. colleges do not
report crime statistics. The
incidence of property crime was
even greater - more than 107,000
cases of burglary, larceny, arson and
motor-vehicle theft at reporting
schools alone. Shockingly, 78
percent of the violent crimes were
committed by students, according to
the Center for the Study and
Prevention of Campus Violence, at
Towson State University in
Maryland.
Traditionally most colleges have
kept quiet about crime. Fearing
adverse publicity, they have
intended to deal with offenders
internally instead of referring them
for prosecution.
The Clerys were a major force
behind a new Pennsylvania law
that requires all colleges in the
state to disclose crime statistics.
They also advocate federal
legislation requiring such
disclosure.
The failure of colleges to warn
about crime has created a dangerous
situation. Too often, parents and
students are unaware of the
hazards of life ori campus. But
concerned parents, students and
college administrators are taking
action around the country and
setting examples for others to
follow.
Here’s what every college should
do to control violence on campus.
Start a campus-watch program.
Security experts agree that any
commuruty can reduce crime simply
by remaining alert. Colleges are no
exception. The proof can be found at
Drexel University in the tough
neighborhood of West
Philadelphia.
Crime used to be rampant near
campus. "Every night cars were
stolen, apartments burglarized,
windows smashed," recalls Hank
Margolis, a 1988 graduate of
Drexel. One evening in October
1987, Margolis heard a scream
outside his window. When he
investigated, he found a woman
lying on the sidewalk, her face
bloody. Later the same night, two
University students were jumped
md beaten by neighborhood thugs.
Determined to fight back,
Margolis called a meeting of
Drexel's Interfraternity
Association and formed Town
Watch. Fraternity volunteers now
patrol the campus and its
surroundings from evening until the
early-morning hours. Traveling in
pairs, they report suspicious
activity via walkie-talkie to a
central radio post staffed by
sorority volunteers, who then
contact Philadelphia police.
"There’s no doubt the program has
reduced crime in the Town Watch
area," says John Hood, crime
prevention officer in the police
department’s 16th district.
Lock and monitor doors. The
night Jeanne Clery was murdered,
dorm residents had propped open a
locked door, as was frequently done
o permit late-night pizza
leliveries. Jeanne may also have
left her own door unlocked, in
anticipation of her roommate’s
return.
Lehigh was aware of its door
problem. Security patrols kept
records, and relocked propped
ioors. "In the six and a half
: nonths Jeanne was at Lehigh, there
were 2,000 incidents of propped
doors," says her father, Howard
Clery. "In Jeanne’s dorm alone
there were 180 proppings."
Although Lehigh has a policy of
disciplining door proppers, "no one
has ever been caught," admits
Marsha Duncan, vice president of
student affairs.
Now, as part of an out-of-court
settlement with the Clerys, Lehigh
has agreed to try a pilot
door-alarm program. In this, keys
are replaced with plastic cards; a
machine records the time and the
identity of each card user; and a
building-wide alarm sounds in case
of intrusion. Also, exterior doors
are wired to notify police if they
are propped open, a simple measure
that may be the obstacle
preventing another burglary, rape
or murder.
Improve lighting and install
emergency phones. At night,
beautifully landsc^ed campuses
offer shadowy hiding places for
muggers, rapists and robbers. One
solution to this problem is
improved lighting.
After the University of Virginia
in Charlottesville instituted a
campus watch, trimming back
bushes and installed lighting and
emergency telephone call boxes,
violent crime on campus dropped 38
percent, and property crime 47
percent.
At any call box, a student in
trouble can reach campus police
without dialing. If he or she cannot
talk, the system tells jx)lice which
phone was activated, and an officer
is immediately dispatched to the
scene.
Use escort and van services.
Students at the University of
California at Los Angeles don’t
have to worry about walking home
alone at night. They can use
U.C.L.A.’s campus escort service.
Started with just seven volunteers
in 1977, it now has 200 part-time
student employees who shepherd
more than 100 students a night
around the 411 acre campus. In
addition, vans provide nearly
385,000 rides a year.
Thanks to escort and van services,
says John Barber, chief of
U.C.L.A.’s police, violent crime is
five to six times lower on campug
than in surrounding commvinities.
Curb alcohol abuse. According to
studies by Towson State University,
alcohol is involved in 80 percent of
rapes, assaults and acts of
vandalism on campus. Most states
have raised their legal drinking
age to 21, disqualifying roughly
three-fourths of undergraduates.
But the laws are useless unless
schools enforce them.
Since Texas raised the drinking
age in 1986, alcohol consumption at
Rice University in Houston has
dropped markedly.
"Alcohol-related crimes at Rice -
assaults, criminal mischief and
public intoxication - are tending
downward too," says Mary
Voswinkel, chief of the Wee police.
A key factor has been the
involvement of Rice students in
designing the school’s policies.
Any campus party where alcohol is
served must have a student
bartender trained by Rice’s pjolice
to know when to ciit off am
intoxicated person’s liquor before
trouble starts. Parties that last
more than two hours and have more
than 200 people must have two
university police officers in
attendance. And trained student
"drunk sitters" stay with
intoxicated party-goers until they
sober up.
At first, attendance at on-campus
parties was down, but no longer.
"Before the law changed in 1986,
the main draw was all the alcohol
you wanted for only a dollar," says
Scott Wiggers, a recent graduate.
"Now alcohol is secondary, and
people are having fun just dancing
and socializing."
Even Rice students out on the town
are protected, thanks to a
transportation service that picks up
those who have had too much to
drink at area bars. The school also
has a counseling center to help
students deal with alcohol abuse,
stress, depression and other
problems.
Fight rape with education. The
chances of a woman’s being raped at
college are astonishingly high.
"Some 25 percent of the female
college population have been
victims of rape or attempted rap>e,"
says Claire Walsh, director of the
Sexual Assault Recovery Service at
the University of Florida. In most
cases, the rapist is an acquaintance
or date.
Gang rapes, which typically
occur at fraternity parties, "are all
too common on many campuses,"
report Julie Ehrhart and ^mice
Sandler, who studied the subject for
the Association of American
Colleges. They’ve documented 100
such cases at colleges of every type
public, private, big, small,
religiously affiliated and Ivy
League.
Determined to reduce rape,
Claire Walsh established Campus
Organized Against Rape (COAR)
in 1982. Her research shows that
women who recognize potential
danger are better able to avoid an
attack. So COAR runs awareness
seminars, which are attended by
men as well as women. Walsh
stresses that men need to take
responsibility for stopping rape and
that most men are allies of women
in the war against rape; they have
an interest in protecting their
mothers, sisters and girlfriends.
Walsh’s advice to women for
avoiding rape: Date in groups until
you get to Imow your dates. Avoid
being in any isolated situation.
Don’t drink with people you don’t
cont on page 9 • Safety