Clark
It has now been more than a week, but students at Clark University in Worcester, Mass., are still shaken up after hearing about a female student who was sexually assaulted walking home in the middle of the night on Feb. 23 from a late-night study session.
Students have been warned from professors, police officers, and other university officials not to walk around by themselves and to always travel in groups, especially at night.
According to the police, a 20-year-old woman was walking on Clifton Street, a street close to some of the university’s dorms, at 3:30 a.m. when men in a vehicle approached her and began talking to her. After attempting to ignore them, a man in the back seat forced her inside the vehicle, sexually assaulted her and took her purse. Eventually, she was released a block away and went to a local hospital for a routine evaluation.
The escort service offers walking escorts 24 hours per day and van services from 4 p.m. to 4 a.m. during the academic year within a quarter mile of campus.
Clark Vice President of Government and Community Affairs Jack Foley released a statement last Thursday: “We’re deeply troubled to learn of this reported sexual assault, and our thoughts are with our students at this time. University police and Clark officials are working closely with the Worcester police.”
Clark is located at 950 Main St. in the south area of the city. A student who works for the Safety Escort Service described it as “one of the more dangerous areas around here.”
Wheaton
A Wheaton College student was sexually assaulted at an off-campus business known to the study body. The name of the establishment has not yet been released, but officials say that an employee of that business sexually assaulted a student at that establishment.
Few details have been released about the incident—identity of the student or the nature of the allegations—but students at the college received a public safety alert last Thursday morning
“We sent out a public safety alert letting people know about what happened off campus,” Wheaton spokesperson Sandy Coleman said. “The safety of our students is of the utmost importance to us.”
The incident is still under investigation by Norton police and officials provided no further information about the incident.
Wheaton officials are warning students to take extra precautions when going out.
“Basically, the message is: be safe, be aware of your surroundings and take care of yourself,” Coleman said. “Whenever something like this happens that involves a student, it’s our duty to let them know this occurred so they can be aware.”
BU
Boston University junior Max Nicastro was arrested last week and charged with raping a student. Nicastro is a defenseman on the men’s hockey team. He is the second BU hockey player charged with sexual assault this season. The cases have produced an uproar of controversy after comments made by Head Coach Jack Parker in an article published in The Boston Globe last week.
“It’s certainly different than it was in the ’70s. Sexual mores have changed,” Parker said. “There’s girls on every floor; there’s no men’s and women’s dorms. The idea that hooking up is OK—I don’t think that term was even used in the 1970s … Ninety-nine percent of these problems start with alcohol and sex. That’s a bad combination.’’
