In the wake of a week that included reports on campus of a sexual assault, a mugging at knife point and an attack in a library bathroom, students say they are questioning their safety on campus as officials try to calm those fears with guidelines and increased security.
At a press conference Tuesday night, the Duke University Police Department announced it would expand patrols campus-wide, create a crime-area target team, offer $1000 in reward in the case of the sexual assault and begin considering longer-term security enhancements.
"When parents send their children to a university, they expect them to be safe. We take that responsibility very seriously here at Duke," said DUPD Chief Clarence Birkhead. "We have no reason to believe these three incidents are part of a trend. By stepping up our activity, however, we are working to ensure that Duke remains safe."
Many students said they were concerned by the recent rash of crime. "The numbers show that there is an increase in crime with greater frequency, but also there is a feeling among students that they are not feeling safe on campus," said Duke Student Government legislator Alex Niejelow, a sophomore.
Jim Clack, director of Counseling and Psychological Services, said he has noticed students seem more frightened and anxious.
"I know that there have been a lot of phone calls from parents requesting that the University take action to keep the students safe," Clack said. "This tells us that lots of students are calling home."
Officials remain confident that the recent string of incidents does not indicate weaker law enforcement or more crime in general.
Most recently, a student said that when she was in a third-floor bathroom of Perkins Library Monday night, a man turned out the lights and tried to grab her as she felt her way to the door; a description of the man, released Tuesday morning, indicates that he is 5'9", black, in his early 20s, 160 pounds, of slim build and was wearing a black shirt and dark-colored pants at the time of the incident. Police have no suspects in any of the cases but believe they are unrelated.
Earlier this year, there were also two reports of muggings in the gardens, as well as two reported armed robberies on Central Campus and another in the Blue Zone parking lot.
"We have had times in the past, like the sexual assaults off East Campus two years ago, when it has felt similar to this," said Kacie Wallace, associate dean for judicial affairs. "Any time you have a number of incidents, it scares students a little. It sometimes comes over the semester, and it sometimes comes in waves and we have had a recent wave."
Following the recent incidents, officials have stressed the importance of precaution and the measures they take to prevent crime. Several administrators and student leaders met Tuesday night to discuss the possibility of more security cameras, permanent security guards and increasing safety on all parts of campus.
Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs Sue Wasiolek emphasized in an interview that students play a major role in their own safety.
"Students need to appreciate and respect the efforts we are taking, including locking bedroom doors and not leaving valuables exposed in cars and rooms and utilizing the locked bathroom system," Wasiolek said, adding that some students have reblocked bathroom door locks after the University unjammed all of them. "All of those systems are only as good as [students] allow them to be."
Other administrators also stressed student responsibility, particularly in cases where more caution could have prevented them from being harmed. For example, Larry Daniel, associate director of the gardens, stressed the importance of following rules that prohibit entry into the gardens after dusk.
"That is an unfortunate incident, but people shouldn't have been in the gardens at that time of day. Students cut through the gardens for convenience," Daniel said. "They'd rather walk through than go around, and now they see it's not safe to do that."
Deb Lo Biondo, assistant dean of student development, said residential advisers are also instrumental in ensuring student safety.
"Making sure bathroom doors are locked, not allowing strangers to shirttail into the dorms, reporting anything suspicious that they find and continuing their educational responsibility is a major part of being an RA," Lo Biondo said. "They need to make sure their residents do not have a false sense of security in this great community."
But many students said they feel officials should take a more serious look at security on campus. DSG Vice President for Facilities and Athletics Matt Slovik, a sophomore, said students will not forget recent events until someone examines their cause.
"This is not the responsibility of the students. An increase of campus safety needs to come from the administration," Slovik said, adding that he and other legislators are studying the issue carefully. "We can't be passive about this. We will just continue to have similar incidents without an administrative response."
A female reported that early last Wednesday morning, someone beat and sexually assaulted her in a third-floor bathroom of Randolph Dormitory. Also, two students said they were held up at knife point in the gardens early Saturday morning.
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