This past weekend there was an act of violence on our campus. There were multiple sexual assaults in the townhouse area early Saturday morning. The perpetrator entered a reported five unlocked townhouses and inappropriately touched multiple women while they slept. The victims, or as we prefer to call them, the survivors, woke and confronted the male who exited the house quickly. This incident has shaken up many students, male and female.
Throughout the process of alerting the students, we believe administration has fumbled with their wording. In the initial report, the Bryant Alert stated that the perpetrator “touched a small number of women.” Using the phrase, “a small number of women” and “touched” minimizes the huge impact this event has had on the survivors. There is no such thing as a small number of women when it comes to being affected by sexual assault. One woman is far too many. For anyone who does not know, Bryant University is a campus comprised of only 40% women. There is a small number of women in general on our campus, which makes sexual violence on campus extremely stressful to the female population. Calling the survivors of this sexual assault “a small number of women” is not only insensitive, but it shows ignorance amongst administration. These survivors of sexual assault have been violated in the one place they should feel the safest – their bedrooms.
“Should I feel better that only a few women woke up from sleeping to being touched by a random man rather than the entire campus?” tweeted Lauren Leedberg, a Bryant student. “Should I be thankful that, this time, I wasn’t one of them?”
This perfectly encompasses why calling the survivors of this act “a small number of women” is unnerving and absolutely unacceptable. Some might argue that we are being whiny and nit-picky when it comes to the wording of this alert, but this isn’t the only misuse of words that occurred in the handling of this act of violence. In an email from John Saddlemire, the Dean of Students and Vice President for Student Affairs at Bryant University, referred to the acts of violence as a general assault, rather than calling it what it is: multiple sexual assaults. Notice that this was also the first and only time the administration even called it anything stronger than an “intrusion” or an act by an “intruder.” This appears to be a second degree sexual assault according to Title 11 of the State of Rhode Island (Title 11 Chapter 37, Section 4 if you want to look it up). Simply calling this an assault takes away from the true act of aggression.
Another issue that the alerts emphasized was the fact that the survivors left their doors unlocked. Students are appalled by this.
“It shouldn’t matter if their doors were locked or unlocked,” said Kevin Ludemann, a Bryant student. “The focus should be on the intentions of the perpetrator.”
This is a form of victim blaming that cannot be condoned. The societal problem is not whether one locks his/her door. The societal problem is whether one chooses to maliciously enter homes. Though the perpetrator could possibly be slowed down or stopped if doors were locked, there is no reason to emphasize this in the reports of the crime. The crime rate at Bryant is extremely low and no student should have to be constantly on guard. A small oversight should not result in such an atrocious crime.
The survivors and the student body deserve to have the administration recognize this for what it truly is. No woman or man on campus deserves to feel unsafe. I shouldn’t have to triple check to make sure my door is locked in fear of a sexual predator entering my room as I sleep. The administration on campus needs to call this a sexual assault. We hope that the survivors of this violent act can find solace in knowing that many students on campus stand with them and are here to support them. Overall this is a very sad event that has happened on campus and we hope that we can move forward together.
As of May 3rd the Smithfield police has issued an arrest warrant for a Jason J. Londono of Pawtucket in connection for the crime. If you know any information surrounding the whereabouts of Jason Londono, please contact the Smithfield Police at (401) 231-2500
If you are looking for emotional support please visit the Women’s Center or Counseling Services which is on the second level of the Unistructure in the Student Affairs wing.