Facing Facts

More and more frequently, it seems, we are facing the reality that the College is no longer immune to the same sorts of violence and crime we tend to associate with larger, urban institutions. We don't have the statistics, just the impression. The most recent awakening began with news of the mugging of four male students one night in early November. A few evenings later, a freshman woman, jogging alone around Occom Pond, was raped at knifepoint.

Some students we know admit to feeling frightened. They now lock their doors (as the campus police have been suggesting all along), they jog during daylight hours or with a friend, they walk in pairs at night. In the past, they noted, they have sensed that similar incidents might have been played down - because of a desire to avoid adverse publicity, complicated explanations, or institutional or personal embarrassment. It's better to face the truth, they said.