Who dat?

When lying in the bed at night, I have a perfect view of the sidewalk leading off-campus, out in the “backyard” of my dorm. Multiple sets of fresh footprints in the newly fallen snow follow the path as it guides them away. Whose footprints are they? Do they belong to a couple aimlessly meandering about, enjoying each other’s company? Or a person and their dog who decided to stroll through campus for a little exercise after dark? Perhaps some students going into town, or to their residence off-campus? Or maybe one set of footprints belongs to a 5’ 10’’ white man with medium build wearing a sweater? It will forever be a mystery.

Last night, the footprints were not all I could see from my cozy cocoon. There were more cars than usual trafficking the intersection which is visible, yet slightly obscured by pine trees, from the window. Police cars as well as regular cars, and campus safety vehicles were out and about.
After two assaults (one on a far end and one in a very central place) on campus in one weekend, needless to say everyone is pretty upset. The suspect is (as of the information they have given out so far) still at large. And to make things worse, it is an averagely built white man, of average height, wearing a sweater. Because this person, that could potentially be half the humans in the entire state of Minnesota, would definitely not be able to change his clothes… Has someone compromising discovered our tiny community, up here on this hill?

I’m not going to lie; one of the reasons I chose this college is because of the feeling of community. Everyone is super friendly, and willing to get to know and help you. And most importantly, the campus feels safe. I think the feeling of community contributes greatly to the sense of security. I always feel safe walking around campus by myself in the late hours of the night, or even wee hours of the morn. Doors left unlocked rarely disturbed. Things lost are almost always returned. Maybe not so much anymore.

In the beginning of the school year, the administration, peer assistants, and practically every authority figure on campus encouraged the school’s “Be a Buddy” motto—saying that when going places after dark to always bring someone else with you in case you encounter trouble, and that if someone asked you to be their buddy to always say yes because the risk of having the other person go alone was not worth it. Of course, this worked in the beginning of the year, but as the days wore on people stopped going places together and started braving the elements, walking to the library, music building, and other places by themselves. Emergency whistles were also distributed, which my friends and I jokingly played around with, thinking they would never actually be needed. I now realize how important buddies and whistles are, and will be taking them more seriously.

I also remember one night near the beginning of the year when my friends and I were out goofing around after dark. It was probably near 10 or 11 pm, and we were basically wandering around, looking for “the end of the earth”. We had never been there before, and it was supposed to be really cool because when you go there it looks like you’re literally at the end of the earth. Anyway, we were near where the first assault allegedly occurred (which happens to be near an arboretum with lots of trees and vegetation), looking around. Right when we were about to give up, a figure emerged from the woods. Personally, I was a little freaked out at this. One of my friends wanted to confront the figure, find out who it was, and ask them if they knew where “the end of the earth” was. The rest of this didn’t really think this was a good idea, but that did not keep her from yelling at and approaching the mystery person, inquiring about the whereabouts of this fun place. I distinctly remember someone telling her, “No, don’t! What if it’s a rapist?” As it turns out, this person was someone we knew, but did not recognize in the dark shadows. He came with us, and we found “the end of the earth”. It ended up being a good night.
Looking back on this, I wonder what would have happened if the mystery person was not friendly. What would we have done? Would I/we still be fortunate enough to be sitting here, blogging about it?

Now is the time when the community and strength of this college will be tested. Be a buddy to your friends. Be a buddy to your neighbors. Be a buddy to the people you don’t get along with. Be a buddy. Keep your eyes peeled.

Now, when I go places at night or see strangers in the woods, I will ask myself, “Who dat?” And I'll also be on the lookout for average man wearing sweaters.