Early Tuesday morning, students awoke to a campus-wide safety alert stating that there had been reports of a sexual assault on campus in the tree line by Bannow. As the next twenty-four hours unfolded the description of the forty-year-old Caucasian male, approximately six feet tall, remained the same, but students began to gain a greater understanding of what had happened.
In a campus wide Public Safety Notice the university released further information and asked those who were in the vicinity between 9 p.m.-11 p.m. and saw anything suspicious to contact Public Safety. Reports of the incident, along with the campus-wide email, told the story of a student lured into the tree line on the walkway between the Library and Bannow. The attacker, wearing black gloves, allegedly punched the student in the face and proceeded to sexually assault her. The student has received treatment at St. Vincent’s Medical Center and Public Safety has urged students to practice the buddy system or take advantage of their 24-hour escort service.
News sources have taken quotes that provide a link to the larger issue of sexual assault and campus security. The overarching theme is that this can happen anywhere, to anyone—and it does. A man approached me just over a month ago outside my dorm building. I was walking back from the BCC when a voice caught my attention. This young man proceeded to tell me that he was looking for a party and was wondering if I could bring him to one. What was odd was that it was a Tuesday night and the school he said he attended wasn’t on spring break like he mentioned. As he continued to ask me to come with him, I took a step back, and that is when he moved towards me. Luckily enough someone was leaving my building at that moment, giving me the chance to move quickly inside. Two weeks later, a similar incident happened to my friends who live on a different part of campus, a man they didn’t recognize followed them back to their dorm.
These incidents aren’t necessarily indicative of a major issue at Fairfield University. These types of scenarios can happen on every college campus, major city, and neighborhood. It is important not only as the semester finishes up, with late nights at the library and last-hoorahs at the beach, but going forward in life that we are aware of our surroundings and exercising caution. Go places in pairs. Stay in well-lit areas. Pick your head up from your phone. Practicing these little habits will keep you safe.
There are many services on campus you can utilize to keep you safe. Students are urged to have Public Safety under their favorites at 203-254-4090. Other resources include Counseling Services, located in Dolan Hall, and Campus Ministry, in the University Chapel.