My letter to PS about the rape on campus
First of all, hey all the women out there, SOMEONE GOT RAPED ON CAMPUS ON MONDAY! Did you hear about this? Probably not unless you picked up the Bucknellian on Friday and read it. Because I am hugely against rape and believe that PS does not do a good job of public safety, but simply focuses entirely on protecting the world from underage drinking I sent a little email to Mr. Friedberg, the director of PS. As well as CC'ing Pres. Mitchell and some other folks. I am fucking pissed that the women of this campus were wandering around piss drunk all weekend not even totally aware that there was a rapist on the loose. For fuck's sake Alex walked home by herself on Friday. This wasn't a good choice for us (Allison, Jack, and I) to allow in light of the circumstances. Generally, I don't mind women walking around by themselves, but THERE WAS A FUCKING RAPE! That means we need to be heighted in our awareness while wandering campus AND BEING DRUNK AND WALKING ALONE DOESN"T CUT IT. Luckily Alex is from NYC so I at least think she can mostly handle herself, but I would freak the fuck out if ANYONE ever hurt one of my friends. So here is my letter to PS.
Dear Mr. Friedberg:
I was horrified to see in this week's issue of the Bucknellian that someone was raped on campus on Monday, Oct. 2. Besides being horrified that some woman was assaulted in such a disgusting way, I was horrified that it took four days for this news to even reach the campus community. And then only in the Bucknellian! It is necessary that students know when a rape or other VIOLENT crime takes place on campus as soon as possible. Your office sends out warning when weather emergencies occur, why not a campus-wide email stating that there was a rape AS SOON AS IT WAS REPORTED?!?! The women of this campus need to know when there is a rapist on the loose so as to better protect themselves. I wish that everyone was always aware of the danger of rape at all times on campus, unfortunately this is not always the case. I find the fact that we were not notified that a rape happened until FOUR days after it occurred unconscionable. God forbid this rapist had struck again during the last four days. If this had happened, Public Safety and Bucknell would have to share much of the blame for not communicating this danger to campus. Public Safety did a wonderful job this summer of warning students about the escaped convict, but obviously a violent crime such as rape did not warrant a campus email. Half the campus is women, and as a woman at Bucknell I am horrified that I did not know that a rape had happened on campus until I picked up the Bucknellian today, October 8, a full six days after the rape occurred. This means I was unaware of this significant danger to my safety for six full days. Not everyone picks up the Bucknellian every week, but a much larger majority of students check their emails every day. Please in the future inform students of these incidents. Even if privacy laws do not allow you to release much information, a simple email stating that someone was raped in a campus residence hall and it is being investigated would do wonders to encourage the female student body to take protective measures. I know that this could potentially impede the investigation as the rapist would be less likely to brag to his friends and rape again, but I see the ultimate goal of Public Safety to be preventing rape and other crimes that endanger this campus community, and I feel an email to the campus stating that a rape occurred immediately after it was reported would have gone far to encourage the women of this campus to protect themselves. I am cc’-ing the President’s office, the Advocate Response Coordinator for Community Health Promotion, and the Women’s Resource Center on this communication. I hope that in the future more will be done to ensure the safety of all women on this campus by notifying us when a rapist is running loose on campus.
Sincerely,
Nicole M. Haines
Class of 2008
Dear Mr. Friedberg:
I was horrified to see in this week's issue of the Bucknellian that someone was raped on campus on Monday, Oct. 2. Besides being horrified that some woman was assaulted in such a disgusting way, I was horrified that it took four days for this news to even reach the campus community. And then only in the Bucknellian! It is necessary that students know when a rape or other VIOLENT crime takes place on campus as soon as possible. Your office sends out warning when weather emergencies occur, why not a campus-wide email stating that there was a rape AS SOON AS IT WAS REPORTED?!?! The women of this campus need to know when there is a rapist on the loose so as to better protect themselves. I wish that everyone was always aware of the danger of rape at all times on campus, unfortunately this is not always the case. I find the fact that we were not notified that a rape happened until FOUR days after it occurred unconscionable. God forbid this rapist had struck again during the last four days. If this had happened, Public Safety and Bucknell would have to share much of the blame for not communicating this danger to campus. Public Safety did a wonderful job this summer of warning students about the escaped convict, but obviously a violent crime such as rape did not warrant a campus email. Half the campus is women, and as a woman at Bucknell I am horrified that I did not know that a rape had happened on campus until I picked up the Bucknellian today, October 8, a full six days after the rape occurred. This means I was unaware of this significant danger to my safety for six full days. Not everyone picks up the Bucknellian every week, but a much larger majority of students check their emails every day. Please in the future inform students of these incidents. Even if privacy laws do not allow you to release much information, a simple email stating that someone was raped in a campus residence hall and it is being investigated would do wonders to encourage the female student body to take protective measures. I know that this could potentially impede the investigation as the rapist would be less likely to brag to his friends and rape again, but I see the ultimate goal of Public Safety to be preventing rape and other crimes that endanger this campus community, and I feel an email to the campus stating that a rape occurred immediately after it was reported would have gone far to encourage the women of this campus to protect themselves. I am cc’-ing the President’s office, the Advocate Response Coordinator for Community Health Promotion, and the Women’s Resource Center on this communication. I hope that in the future more will be done to ensure the safety of all women on this campus by notifying us when a rapist is running loose on campus.
Sincerely,
Nicole M. Haines
Class of 2008