At Bryn Mawr's quiet campus, many students shaken by incident

BRYN MAWR -- Posted at various locations around Bryn Mawr College's suburban campus are letters detailing a student's brutal attack on Friday. Next to each one is a large handwritten sign stating, "Sister we love you." Over half of Bryn Mawr's students have signed their names on the signs to show support for their classmate who was kidnapped from the edge of the University's campus early Friday morning, raped and then robbed. While the news has not drastically altered the mood of this campus -- perhaps the epitome of the idyllic liberal arts college -- several students said yesterday that it has scared them and made them feel more vulnerable. But few students would discuss exactly how close to home the crime had hit. According to police, the assailant forced the woman to drive to her on-campus dormitory and retrieve her MAC and credit cards. He then drove her to New Jersey and fled on foot, police said. But despite the fact that the assailant walked right into a campus dormitory, some students said they felt the incident was distant from the gothic and greenery, saying, "It did not happen here." Still, almost all students yesterday seemed concerned and upset. "[People] are freaked out," said Hall Advisor Gwen Stewart, a Bryn Mawr senior. Stewart predicted that students will be more careful and walk in groups, but said she was not sure how long the increased awareness will last. Several women mentioned that the somewhat secluded, suburban location can provide a false sense of security. "We're in such a nice little idyllic setting that you can divorce yourself from the idea of rape," sophomore Meredith Keys said. But other students said the location and the single-sex atmosphere makes them even more scared. "Sometimes I don't feel safe at all here because it's so small," sophomore Ann Rubin said. The reaction among many of the women at the Main Line school was akin to that of women in New York City after the rape of a female jogger in 1989 in Central Park. The name of the woman was unimportant. Instead, students expressed concern for an anonymous woman with whom they identify and empathize. "People are really surprised," Stewart said. "[They are saying], 'Wow, I have been in that situation. That could have been me.' " Students also did not seem concerned about learning which dormitory the student lived in, which the assailant entered. Bryn Mawr and University Police have declined to release the name of the dorm. Chuck Heyduk, one of Bryn Mawr's assistant deans, said counseling services are available for students who feel they need to talk about the incident. At the beginning of the school year, students receive safety information from an orientation group they are assigned to and from the school's Department of Public Safety, Heyduk said. Stewart said the deans will probably organize informal discussions in the dorms where students can bring their concerns. Several students said security issues are low on the college's list of priorities and criticized their administration for not giving enough money or support to their Department of Public Safety. "I don't think anything will happen [as a result of this]," Keys said. "There seems to be a pattern of inaction." Keys blamed this both on the students, who she said are not likely to mobilize in response to the incident, and on the administration. Despite their fear, no student said the attack will make them stop going to Philadelphia to attend parties at the University or other schools, go to concerts or out to dinner.

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