Be less comfortable and more cautious

Do you feel safe at Oberlin? Do you feel safe anywhere? What, exactly, is safe? Is it the same thing as leaving the door propped open because you don't feel like bringing your validine outside with you for that late night smoke, and then wandering off to talk to a friend at another dorm? Is it expecting that you don't need to lock your door at night, knowing that RC's are less than thrilled by your 3:45 am pee-break lock-out? Is it wandering out to the arb after you had the huge fight with your boyfriend and need some time to just be quiet? Or will these types of behaviors be later analyzed, should a crime occur, as signs of neglect, complacency, excessive comfort, and even - in some cases - pure laziness?

What about the much debated, friendly practice of holding doors open for people? Some feel that we should continue to hold the doors, saving our fellow Oberlin travelers the 12-15 seconds of fumbling around linty pockets or disorganized backpacks to get their computer-generated passcard. Some say we should let the doors close - being rude is better than letting an intruder into our residence hall. Others say we should hold them open, but only upon presentation of said validine. Then, do we inspect the card and make sure the digitized head on the plastic matches the irritated head on the body before us?

Safety is certainly something that we think about retroactively. It's also something that is, sadly, becoming more at the forefront of Oberlin College's collective consciousness. Our pound of cure was weighed out in the small legions of electricians and carpenters fixing all of the broken doors around campus + the impromptu discussions among friends about walking home late at night + dorm meetings all over campus with Security reps answering questions, offering advice, calming a few fears and raising others. This campus has definitely been alerted to the possibility - no, actuality - of someone violating what can hopefully be considered a universal safe space, regardless of politic bent or ethnic or sexual background: secure sleep.

So, what do we do now? Do we take the horrible rape of our home and assault of our classmate, friend, neighbor, woman you don't know but think about hourly? do we take this happening as a warning to be less comfortable and a little more cautious? Or do we allow it to completely spoil the flavor of Oberlin by becoming so paranoid that we're even more afraid to make eye contact? The assault at Fairchild was a truly random act of violence; no one can be blamed except for the assailant. But, remember that there's only a one- letter difference between bitter and better? We need to reevaluate our current easiness with leaving doors propped and only mentally cataloguing people and things that make us nervous. We must try to prevent the harmful acts that we can. However, we can't close ourselves up so much that we don't notice the people around us. Know the other folks in your dorm. Know that if there's a door propped open at night, it should be closed. Know that if someone doesn't "look like a student" then you might want to take note - but don't automatically assume all "townies" are delinquents and derelicts.

The administration has been focusing on trying to deal with the assault and the subsequent fall-out of concern and violation felt by the students. From Residential Life and Services calling RC's a mere 30-45 minutes after the incident to tell them to secure their buildings, to the increased patrolling by officers, to Security's dorm raps, the powers-that-be have truly tried to act with the students' best interests at heart. Sometimes these intentions are less fruitful than they could have been with more ample advertising, but it's obvious that this incident has galvanized the administration to action. We are responsible for using these activities to inform ourselves. The various offices and people involved in the information dissemination process have worked hard to try to assuage our fears. They are responsible for letting us know how to best benefit from this information, for letting us know where and when they will be available to share their knowledge.

The issue of off-campus communication has become very apparent: word of mouth from concerned friends is the only way that non-dormitory people were notified. Easily as vulnerable as on-campus students, these people deserve the same access to information as their cohorts. A system to alert off-campus students is an obvious necessity.

Rumor and innuendo about what happened, how the assailant entered the building, what exactly happened, whether he has been caught and all other details about the crime have been widespread. Granted, much of these specificities are speculations for even the administration, and the dorm meetings given by Security were as frank and open about the incident as can be expected. However, a consolidated account by the Oberlin Police Department, the Office of Safety and Security, the eyewitnesses and all others involved in the aftermath of the crime is something that we deserve and need to even begin to try to make sense of what happened last Sunday.

Trust your instincts - if something feels wrong, don't keep it to yourself. Use this unimaginable violation of our comfort zone, our safest space, as a warning to reevaluate the boundaries of that comfort and a mandate to shift us to more of a prevention-based mindset.