It often seems like nothing could bring everyone on campus together — not student government elections, not culture nights or rallies in the EMU Amphitheater. But the recent campus attacks near Gerlinger Hall have left almost everyone sharing the same feelings of frustration and vulnerability.
Although no one is pointing fingers, it may be time for the University to seek outside help from national campus safety professionals. The Department of Public Safety is doing its best to keep the campus safe. But the University often receives outside help on issues of diversity and tolerance on campus, and it’s only natural we seek the same guidance from experts with experience resolving safety issues on other campuses. Objective professionals can help brainstorm new approaches and ideas to make the campus a safer place.
In the meantime, students, faculty and staff should make an effort to learn appropriate self-defense moves, use common sense and take advantage of underused campus services, such as DPS campus escorts.
The woman who was attacked March 13 by Gerlinger Hall was impressively well-prepared for the attack — she was able to fire pepper spray in her assailant’s eyes, hit him with her car keys and run away — but not everyone would have such quick reflexes in this situation.
Generally speaking, when people are attacked their human instinct is to fight back, but defending yourself successfully takes practice. We encourage people to take self-defense or martial arts classes to rehearse these techniques so that they are comfortable using them in real-life situations.
A few simple self-defense techniques, such as kicking or kneeing an attacker to the groin or knee, are very effective. Punching to the face or elbowing an attacker in the sternum or head are also powerful ways to fight back when faced with an attacker. Every part of your body is potentially a weapon, if you know how to use it.
But not all situations are the same, and if you’re attacked, you have to do what is right for you. When weapons are involved, as in the March 12 attempted robbery by Gerlinger Hall, the whole dynamic of the situation changes. In these cases, it’s important to do whatever you have to do to survive the attack. Sometimes people freeze, and that in no way means those people “failed” to protect themselves correctly.
We hope that the culprit or culprits of these attacks are caught, but some other recent campus attackers have never been found. And that makes it even more important for students to be educated and prepared — to help them be safer.