A second incident involving a female student encountering an unknown male in a dormitory bathroom has steeled the resolve for enhanced campus surveillance. At the start of the 2015 fall semester, the campus will be monitored and recorded 24/7 by nearly 50 security cameras, according to Director of Facilities and Security Peter Romero. The new cameras are part of a two-phase plan, which Romero said was conceived last summer in response to the recent addition of the Higher Learning Center, and a marked increase in the student population. “I think this is a positive step to continue security improvements on campus for [everyone],” Romero said. Though campus surveillance has been a source of contention at some universities, students at Santa Fe University of Art and Design seem to be the new camera plan’s greatest champions. “Things have to change around here,” Jordyn Aquino said, “the safety of my peers is very important to me.” Aquino is a musical theater major and one of the camera plan’s more active proponents. After learning about the sexual assault that took place Oct. 2 in a dormitory bathroom and hallway, she posted a Facebook status on the Student Life page in which she solicited help to draft a petition for more security cameras. “It scares me and angers me that a sexual predator may be roaming our campus because we did not have the proper evidence to convict him,” Aquino said. The only suspect arrested in the Oct. 2 assault was released from police custody, and allowed back on campus, according to a previous Jackalope Magazine article. The second incident occurred on Oct. 30. According to a campus-wide email from Senior Director of Student Life Laura Nunnelly, “a female student contacted campus security to report an incident involving an unknown male in the female bathroom of King Hall.” According to the email, campus security was searching for the suspect, and the Santa Fe Police were contacted. No further information was available at the time this article was published. Familiar with the predation of catcalling while traversing campus property, Aquino said she would like to see cameras both indoors and outdoors on every entrance, exit, public space and courtyard, including “the hallways [and] stairways of dorms.” “I understand that this is controversial,” she said, acknowledging privacy concerns, “but [students] need to really consider … that there are victims living on our campus who are in a perpetual state of fear and discomfort because their attacker is still at large.” To some extent, photo major Forrest Soper agrees with Aquino. “I know that due to the recent incident on campus, many individuals feel unsafe and are pushing for the installation of new cameras,” he said, “and I have absolutely no problem with that.” However, Soper also said he has never liked the idea of surveillance, even if only used for the purpose of verifying criminal activity. In fact, when asked in an informal Jackalope-sponsored Facebook survey if he was for, against or undecided in regard to the new camera plan, Soper was the only student out 58 respondents to choose against—49 were for, and eight were undecided. “I have never felt that security cameras or surveillance systems made me feel safe.” Because he lives off campus and was not affected by the assault, Soper said he does not want to speak out against what other students may perceive as a means to reassurance and safety, and therefore, supports their desire for additional surveillance. David Roth, although he did not respond to the survey, also is an opponent of Aquino’s effort and the camera plan. When commenting on her petition post, he said cameras monitoring dormitory hallways would be an “invasion of privacy,” and that security should be more diverse and even-handed in their tactics when combating campus crime, e.g., offering self-defense classes, investigatory follow-ups on theft complaints and more student-ID checking. Though, agreeing with Aquino on one point, Roth said, “I do...
Think About It
posted by Nicholas Beckman
SFUAD rolls out online campus safety training, Think About It, as part of new initiatives and resources for students.
Eye on Safety
posted by Jonathan Hargraves
Student Life is gearing up to create a safer campus for the 2014 fall semester. Last April, in a report prepared by the White House Task Force to Protect Students From Sexual Assault, a troubling mosaic was pieced together with a variety of findings gathered from college campuses nation-wide. These include the following: Nearly 1 in 5 women—or nearly 22 million—have been raped in their lifetimes. 1 in 71 men—or almost 1.6 million—have been raped during their lives. Women of all races are targeted. Most victims know their assailants. Repeat victimization is common. In response, the report includes a variety of recommendations for policy changes that colleges, Santa Fe University of Art and Design (SFUAD) among them, must adopt to become more in tune with the intent of Title IX, which governs gender equality in education. Policy changes for the 2014 fall semester will include more comprehensive reporting procedures related to sexual assault, which will provide a wider range of support staff for students. Additionally, a Title IX advisor, Becky Connelly, will be on campus to ensure policies are properly implemented, and to provide grievance counseling so students can report violations of their civil rights. Finally, the school is introducing “Think About It,” an interactive multimedia educational data-gathering tool that guides students through topics such as alcohol and drug awareness, sexual harassment, sexual assault, what it means to give consent, what isn’t considered consent, and the obligations of bystanders who witness assault. “Think About It” will collect data while it educates students so lawmakers can make policies to better suited to student needs. There has only been one sexual assault reported at SFUAD since 2010. But just because others haven’t been reported, Student Life Senior Director Laura Nunnelly says, doesn’t mean they didn’t happen. She says potential low reporting could be due to...
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