After a long night of dancing at the Boogie, my friends and I are only concerned with getting home, washing off our make-up and climbing into bed.
We have done it countless times, most Thursday nights, and not once have we been truly concerned about our safety in returning to our dorms in the early morning hours.
Now, any student or resident of La Verne knows that this is not what one would call a “crime-infested” city, but everyone feels more secure because we have the ever-so-friendly La Verne Police Department and University Campus Safety officers.
They are here to make us feel safe, and prior to February, they did. Sort of. I never really felt like I needed anyone to protect me at a school like ULV, but my grandmother did.
She met John Lentz, director of campus safety and transportation, one day to have a little chat regarding the ways he planned on protecting me from the evils that lurked outside Stu-Han.
She was concerned, and after a recent experience, I am beginning to see the light by which my grandmother was so blinded.
In early February, we returned home from our normal Thursday night activities hoping only to hurry in from the cold, when we were approached at our door by a drunken guy who we will call “Bob.” I would have called him a gentleman, but his conduct would have made me a liar.
“Bob” announced he and his two intoxicated friends were ready to party, as they followed us into the dorms against our choice.
My friends and I went to our rooms and closed our doors. The boys, who claim to go to ULV, could not accept this and began to not just knock, but pound on my friends’ door, telling them not to worry they were not going to rape them, just let them in.
Naturally, my friends called campus safety. The officer on duty told them to call their resident assistant (R.A.) first.
What is this business? Dialing #6666, not our R.A.’s number, is designed to be remembered quickly in a time of need.
More than a little baffled at the officer’s logic, my friends called our R.A., who was not home. They called campus safety again and were met by a rather annoyed officer who asked whether they had called the R.A. When they replied that they had, he finally said, as he should have the first time, that he was on his way.
When he arrived, 20 minutes later, he arrived with force, in the shape of six LVPD officers. One officer told my friend, Jennifer, that next time we should forget the R.A., forget campus safety and just call 911.
This is disturbing to me because 1) LVPD implied that we should not rely on campus safety to protect us; 2) there was such a lack of genuine concern for our safety; and 3) it was the slowest reaction time I have ever encountered.
I know that this campus safety officer is one of only seven officers, and he only works one night, but this is no excuse. It will be on his shift that I am raped because he will not assist me until I have called my R.A., and this does not make me feel safe.
The officer should have, without questions, come to our assistance 1) because it is his job and our tuition pays his salary; 2) because we asked for it; and 3) because we needed it-bottom line.
In the future, occurrences like this should not happen. If they do, my grandmother is going to have another conversation with Mr. Lentz.
Michelle Thornton, a junior journalism major, is editorial director of the Campus Times. She can be reached by e-mail at mthornto@ulv.edu.
