Published Articles

Solution to Assaults

By Sharon Carpenter

Thursday, October 4, 2007

GLASSBORO- The last thing students at Rowan University expected to hear when they returned to class after a fun-filled Labor Day weekend was news of their peers being robbed and sexually assaulted. These unfortunate events took place in the early hours of Saturday, September 1 at Beau Rivage Townhouses in Glassboro, NJ.

At 2:41 A.M. the Glassboro Police Department responded to a large fight and two unconscious people in Beau. Two of the subjects told officers that they were assaulted by five unknown males who punched and kicked them in the head and face. They also robbed them, taking their money, cell phones, and wallets. There was also a third victim that was hit in the face with a vodka bottle causing a severe cut and broken bones in the face. Only three out of the five suspects were caught and police are looking for the others.

Because the victims were all Rowan students, Rowan University and Glassboro responded immediately. The next morning, Rowan Pubic Safety, the Glassboro command staff, the president of Rowan University, and the two vice presidents of Rowan met together. After rigorous hours of discussion, they came up with a solution.

Glassboro Police Department will be sending two or three officers to team up with two or three officers from Rowan Public Safety. Together they form the party patrol. The party patrol will be going on evenings and weekends to check for noise, parties, and any suspicious behavior.

“We’ve had robberies and sexual assaults before, but this was different because it was the first weekend that freshmen were alone, “said Timothy Michener, Director of Public Safety.

“We’ve already issued 87 citations in the first 18 days. Last year in the first 18 days we issued 15. We are taking this seriously,” said Michener.

The Beau Rivage landlord is also taking the proper precautions to try and prevent this from happening again. In fact, Mike Williams, landlord of Beau and President of Homeowner Association, drove back from a vacation to meet with the Rowan and Glassboro police the next morning.

Beau Rivage pays Glassboro police overtime for providing extra security every weekend. Although it is tedious for them to pay extra money for them to patrol, Beau Rivage has found that providing additional officers on foot has seemed to be the most effective. This allows the officers to become more mobile and allows them to patrol areas within a closer range.

“We have hired Glassboro police for security every weekend. This gives us private security. We’re going to continue down the path we’re going,” said Williams.

Although there was a DWI check on Route 322 in Glassboro the same night, Rowan Public Safety said there wasn’t any correlation between the assaults and robberies and the police presence at the DWI.

“I was appalled, fearful for the students, and I felt horrible for the families of the students that were treated so badly,” said Joanne Damminger, Executive Assistant to the Vice President of Student Affairs.

Damminger claimed that there were several meetings set up amongst the Rowan administration to take immediate action. Their main concern was that harm caused to Rowan students was being caused off-campus and by non-students. The Division of Student Affairs is currently trying to make recommendations to President Farish about what should be done. In fact, the administration of Rowan University is planning a day-long retreat about alcohol abuse response. They will be focusing on what more to do, how to respond, and how to treat the students that have been harmed from the events.

Damminger felt that incidents like this could occur anywhere and at anytime, but they’ve never been a problem. She felt that it was different this time because of the number of students involved in the incidents. The particularly pleasant weather might have played a role in the incidents because of the amount of people that wanted to be outside together.

Students living in the nearby area are also taking proper precautions to protect themselves. Lauren Blose, a sophomore at Rowan University lives in the Beau Rivage townhouse complex. She didn’t think much of it when she returned to her apartment that night and saw the police at Beau. Police are usually patrolling the Beau area as it area is known for loud social events. She went to bed and figured it was the usual patrolling.

The next morning she checked the Owl Alert (the campus security email) and found out about the unfortunate events. After learning about the events she claims to have carried a can of Mace around with her the next night because she was fearful from the events the night before. She feels the police patrolling constantly are a step in the right direction towards a safer environment around campus.

“I’d rather get a ticket for drinking and have police constantly patrolling than get raped,” says Blose.

Tara Kalivas, a senior at Rowan University, lives in Campus Crossings the apartment complex right next to Beau Rivage. She claims she heard by word of mouth the next day and was surprised when she found out because she doesn’t remember this ever happening before since she’s lived there. Kalivas is concerned as to the way police are responding to the events. She feels that the police are concentrating too much on alcohol violations rather than the safety.

“Students should be educated about safety such as not walking alone. There should be more security people walking around and not only patrolling parties,” said Kalivas.

Aside from the extra patrolmen that Glassboro and Rowan are sending out, Rowan also has many precautions. Rowan has 47 blue light telephones for students to gain direct access to public safety. They also offer Rape Against Defense courses (12-hour self-defense courses) free of charge for women of all ages. Rowan Public Safety also offers an escort service free to all students at all hours of the night. The escort will take the student from where they are and return them to their final destination.

“Always believe that people by nature will rise to expectations, but what should be done is to have high reasonable expectations,” said Damminger.