Southwestern College must prioritize women

During the day, Southwestern College is full of faculty and students going about their business. Barring a random event like a shooter or ebola scare, the campus visually seems safe. SWC is a different place when the sun sets. The wind breeze become threatening whispers telling you to watch your back. The walkways seem longer than usual, the echoing of footsteps chasing you to your car. Your weapon of defense from the darkness is the flickering of old streetlights and a dull car key wedged between your fingers. But that still is not enough to protect you.
This is the reality women face when leaving the campus at night, especially faculty and students who leave as late as 10 p.m.
Fifty three percent of SWC students are women according to the 2016-2017 fact book, yet there are no significant policies to help them feel safer on campus.
According to a survey commissioned by the Association of American Universities, 27.2 percent of female college seniors reported they had experienced unwanted sexual contact – from touching to rape – due to alcohol or drugs or by force.
Almost three-fourths of victims chose not to go to the police because they did not think what happened was serious enough to report. Others were too ashamed to come forward or did not think they would be taken seriously.
Zoe Ridolfi-Starr, deputy director of Know Your IX, a sexual assault awareness organization, talks about the toxic mindset many campuses have on sexual violence in a New York Times article.
“This survey is significant conformation of a major problem, and it confirms what we’ve been saying about the mind-set on campus and the reception survivors expect to encounter,” she said.
Many women have vocalized their safety concerns. They ask campus police to walk them to their cars. They demand better lighting in the dark spots on campus. They want more security cameras and police presence at vulnerable spots on campus and maintenance on blue emergency poles to ensure they work when they are needed. But neither the police nor the administration have taken significant action to show that the concerns are being heard.
The Sun has written numerous articles on this topic since Spring 2015, including two special editions focusing on SWC’s sexual assault epidemic. Maybe we were not as direct as we could have been, so we’ll spell it out for you: prioritize women on campus.
There is a narrative ingrained in society telling women their voices do not matter. Do not teach students and faculty the same message at SWC.
School should be a safe place for women to focus on education. Students pay to be here. They should get the best out of their money when on campus. Instead, women have to choose between leaving the library early without any worries or leaving late and not having the safety of a busy crowd to protect them from the shadows.
We understand SWCPD has new leadership, but if there were an inkling of care for women’s safety on campus, this issue would have been one of the first priorities.
The requests we make are not hard to implement.
There needs to be maintenance done on the streetlights on campus and blue emergency poles. Something as simple as lighting can help someone be more aware of their surroundings. Making sure the surveillance cameras attached to every blue emergency pole work will also help comfort those walking late at night and scare off potential attackers.
Campus police also need to patrol more than one area. Sticking around the same areas on campus makes it easier for would-be attackers to predict police activity and avoid regularly patrolled areas. This also means be more proactive and walk women to their cars. Campus Police should offer to escort people to their cars rather than waiting for a call requesting for them.
The department needs to make its presence more known. Many people do not know they can call campus police to escort them back to their vehicles. Others do not reach out to campus police because of the recent history of former Chief Michael Cash and his officers abusing their power. Many people are afraid. They need to see action to be sure that their voices are being heard and are not just going unnoticed.
SWCPD should not wait for a victim to come to its office.
The administration needs to be more proactive in keeping its students and faculty, especially women, safe. We must not forget that society constantly marginalizes this group. We need to do our best to ensure they are being heard and take action immediately.