Last week, two female members of the Dance Ensemble were greeted rather uncomfortably by a man who appeared from behind a Brighton Campus building around 10 p.m.
"You girls leaving dance?" he asked, as the pair left dance practice. The man eventually left them alone as the two girls alerted their fellow dancers still inside the building and called the Boston College Police Department, but he continued lurking in a grove of trees and watched them hustle toward Main Campus.
Nothing terrible happened this time - and usually, nothing does. Many might even ask, "What's the big deal?" But do we really need a front-page headline to make protecting students a priority?
Every night of the week, BC sends more than 100 of its female undergrads trudging through what is one of the most unprotected parts of the campus.
The Office of the Dean for Student Development decided this year to move dance practices for the Dance Ensemble and Dance Organization, and eventually all dance groups, to the "Brighton Dance Studio," a converted gymnasium on BC's new property.
On its surface, the decision is a reasonable one - space on campus, or lack thereof, has always been an issue and we might as well start using the land that's already cost BC over $150 million.
But BC seems to have taken a cavalier approach to moving these dance practices to the Brighton Campus by not adequately addressing the considerable safety concerns. From the corner of Commonwealth Avenue and Lake Street to the studio is just a five-minute walk, but half of that is 150 yards down a driveway between groves of trees and other shadowy spots. All of the Dance Ensemble's practices start after 4:40 p.m., and they last until 10 p.m.
Sounds like the perfect spot for one of those blue lights we're supposed to be able to see from anywhere on campus, right? There is one directly outside the studio, but none in sight at the darkest spots on the walk.
To be fair, ODSD has shown some concern for the issue and taken several steps since the incident to try to help the situation. They are considering installing another blue light and providing better access to Eagle Escort, among other possible solutions. The BCPD also visited a DE practice to talk about its rape aggression defense course.
2008 Woodie Awards
