Editor,
On Thursday evening, as I was working on homework and having a cup of coffee, my partner informed me that there had been a sexual assault at Zimmerman. I’ve spent countless hours studying at that library. It always felt safer than Parish, even though Parish is open later. When I was younger, I used to play hide-and-seek in the stacks. I’ve shown up, like many other UNM students, in pajamas during Finals Week.
When I looked at The Daily Lobo’s twitter feed to find out more information, I saw the crime report for this week. Three out of four crimes reported were sexual in nature. One woman’s butt was slapped by a passing motorcyclist, another’s ex-boyfriend attacked her, and a third was stalked at her workplace. All crimes happened between Feb. 4 and today.
With campus safety walks and letters from administrators about safety, clearly UNM understands it has a problem. But these are not strong enough solutions. We need to open up a dialogue in the community about violence against women. We also need measures taken to ensure the safety of all members of the UNM community. I shouldn’t be afraid to send my students on a field trip. I shouldn’t have to text my friends to carry protection against would-be attackers. I certainly shouldn’t have to worry about getting harassed on campus.
Women in Albuquerque are used to catcalls. We’ve been told by our mothers to never walk downtown at night. We are taught to be watchful and awake when buying groceries or having a bite to eat around our campus. The student ghetto has never really felt safe. But UNM has friendly, blue emergency phone towers! Campus Police are just a phone call away. Why are our Lobos still facing such egregious crimes?
I am shocked that UNM waited two days to provide information about this sexual assault and the suspect. More students could have been at risk, especially since the man had a knife. Perhaps the victim waited to make a report, or there were other circumstances and details explaining the delay, so I will refrain from a diatribe against the Campus Alert system. Nonetheless, I sincerely hope UNM has a plan for making campus safer for all students and visitors. Until then, what should we do? Study in well-lit coffee shops? Carry mace? At a certain point, I get weary of being the sole person responsible for protecting myself against assaults. Safety ought to be a community effort, starting with an immediate course of action from administrators.
Sincerely,
Chelsea Worthington
UNM graduate student
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