Get Herald RSSTo the Editor:
In a recent letter to the editor, ("Hiring of sexual assault counselor unnecessary," Sept. 19) Jonathan Bastian '89 suggested that we should lower tuition rather than provide access to sexual assault counseling services. I take offense. On Friday night, I was walking up College Hill from RISD around midnight with four other females. Three men came out of their house and started to verbally harass and pursue us. I believed that my entire group's safety was compromised, and I started to yell as we broke into a jog up the hill from the bottom side of Meeting Street. The three men continued to follow us, so I pulled out my cell phone and called the Department of Public Safety while screaming two choice words: "F*ck" and "Help." The men continued to pursue us but fell back to within a block behind us, by which point, I was on the phone with DPS giving them the location. Of course, the would-be assailants could have been drunken guys, meaning no harm. They could have followed us with the intention of scaring us. But it only takes one female and one male in order to facilitate violence.
Even if Brown published a "zero sexual assault rate in 2005," there is still violence on this campus. Simply because the statistics report zero assaults, does not make that the case. I, for one, am glad that I called DPS and that they were there to come aid us. The five of us walked into DPS at the corner of Meeting and Brown with the three men still in pursuit. DPS pulled out their flashlights and questioned the men.
Brown made an excellent decision in hiring a sexual assault staffer. Staffers, like DPS, and the new sexual assault officer, help make Brown a safer and more secure environment, but we cannot assume that Brown will be safe and secure based on statistics. I completely support the University's decision to hire Trisha Glover in order to deal with these issues on campus, regardless of statistics.
Vanessa Rubin '12 Sept. 22
