Ladies and Gentlemen of the Board, Administration officials, Faculty and Students of Whitman College,

My name is Roman Goerss and I’m the student body vice-president and chairman of student affairs for Whitman. Over the past few years security issues have come to take an increasingly central role in the concerns of the Whitman student body. Though the number of incidents has remained relatively constant, their severity has climbed alarmingly. This memorandum is meant to describe the security situation facing the Whitman community, explain Whitman’s current resources in a wider collegiate context, report student concerns and opinions and suggest potential solutions to this crisis. I’ll begin with a brief history of Whitman’s security problems.

Security Incidents at Whitman

The following are the major, publicly known security incidents which have occurred at Whitman in the past few years. A few more incidents which were not common knowledge are included in the “Student Opinions” section further down.

3 years ago a few gang members from town began sneaking into the library and stealing student laptops. Leaving laptops alone was a common practice as students went to get food in the café in the library’s basement or left for a smoke, and over a dozen laptops were stolen before one individual was apprehended. He was apparently also involved in the Walla Walla drug trade. That year there were also issues with obscenities being shouted at students by cars driving through campus, a problem which continues to this day.

Two years ago, a member of town who was high on a number of substances broke into Jewett and attempted burglary. When a security officer restrained her, she bit him (he was ultimately fine). Also, an adult man somehow got into Prentiss and wandered around for a short time, telling students he was looking for a student, then burglarized some rooms.

Last year, we began having issues with cars shooting students with BB guns as they left the dance studio. Bike theft has also been steadily escalating.

This year has been the most severe in recent memory. A rash of thefts in the Interest House Community (who often left their doors unlocked) has involved the theft of a number of electronics including laptops and television sets. Some of these burglaries occurred when students were home, though thankfully no one was hurt. Burglars from town also broke into Jewett and Lyman, despite their being locked, and stole some items. Security attempted to apprehend them but they escaped.

Most worryingly, two assaults have occurred on campus recently, almost certainly by the same individuals. On a Friday night late last semester around 1 am, two teenagers from town approached and assaulted a Whitman student. The attack was apparently not premeditated, as the attackers actually argued over whether or not to take his wallet after knocking him down. This worries me because it seems their primary objective is not money, but injuring students.

I should note that there is a certain amount of tension which some members of the Walla Walla community around Whittie age apparently feel towards the students. They often view Whitties as privileged and snobby. Whitties who have gone through the Walla Walla school system tell me that high school students usually hate Whitties intensely.

Early this semester a second assault was committed on campus by two people who match the description of the suspects from the first crime (they are also suspected of burglarizing Jewett and Lyman, but that is harder to verify). A student was knocked down and pummeled and the attackers demanded money, but he escaped.

A group of high school students recently entered Reid carrying a knife. Their intentions are unknown, as students quickly called security and they were escorted off campus.

Finally, two more assaults have recently been reported to me, one of them perpetrated on the same student who was the victim of the second assault described two paragraphs above. I have not yet been able to confirm this information directly, however. The pattern of escalation we’ve seen in recent months coupled with the newfound threat to student’s personal safety in a set of circumstances already teetering on breaking point has convinced the student affairs committee that broad, institutional change is necessary to effectively ensure the safety of the Whitman student body.

Current Security Resources

These incidents work to highlight some of the deficiencies of the current security situation at Whitman college. Ranked against other colleges on the panel of 14 Whitman uses for reference, Whitman is definitely near the bottom in terms of security resources. This is less disturbing than it might seem on its face, we’re in a small town which has traditionally offered little crime, and most of the crimes which Whitman security would deal with like theft, Whitman students basically don’t commit against one another. Like most security officers, those who are on duty at Whitman rarely experience serious incidents. With the recent rise in violence, however, it is becoming increasingly clear that Whitman’s current resources are simply insufficient to cope with situations that do arise, and that needs to change.  

We have 5 security officers on a full time basis. That means that at any given time on the Whitman there is only a single Whitman security officer for the entire campus, with some limited overlap between shifts and occasionally a second person on duty on nights which they anticipate will cause trouble, if the staff is available. Of the 5, the director of security estimates that perhaps 2 or 3 are in the physical shape necessary to restrain suspect or pursue one on foot. Even at most small Liberal arts colleges, a security staff of 8-10 is the norm, and the director of security says that he’s been trying to get at least one more full time officer because he has no one to cover for sick officers, and it’s difficult to find a second officer for nights when he needs two of them.

In the evening, there are also two “yellowjackets,” students paid to wander the campus, watch out for crime and lock the buildings in the evening. They carry only flashlights and Walkie-Talkies, and their standing instructions upon encountering real trouble are to flee and call in the incident to security or the police. They are also available to escort students home at night. The yellowjackets are not used much, partly because the Whitman culture still treats the campus as a safe zone. That needs to change. At most colleges, a van or bike patrol to escort students is available.

We have a building security person in the campus center, a student who is more of an information desk than anything else but who can report trouble. There is also a security camera. Students are permitted to carry pepper spray on campus and there are periodic one-off self-defense classes offered each year, but it’s difficult for students to really defend themselves. This is a tricky issue to remedy because the increase in accidents associated with more dangerous self-defense items being allowed on campus would probably overshoot any gains in self-defense.

Sprinkled around campus are blue security lights. They have an emergency call button which immediately connects to police dispatch and triggers a blinking light that can be seen from a great distance. These are generally spaced pretty well, but there are a few places where more could be helpful. Lighting on campus after dark is weak but consistent. Chuck Cleveland has recently begun keeping the tennis court lights on into Friday and Saturday nights, a move which greatly increases visibility on Ankeny field.

When an incident occurs, an email is sent to the entire campus within an hour or so. There are no physical notices posted of security issues on campus however (a practice common at most colleges), and many students don’t read or pay much attention to mass emails here. There is also a system which can text message everyone on campus in case of an extreme incident like a shooting.

Student Survey Response

Drawing on the research of my committee, I wrote and issued a survey to the Whitman student body via email regarding campus security. It is a testament to the concern of the student body that 176 students responded in just a few days, the most responses ASWC has received on any survey of the roughly dozen on record. A breakdown of the data follows.

A. DEMOGRAPHICS

The respondents to the survey were predominantly female (133 to 39, a few who did not specify), and there was a relatively even distribution among class years, with a slight bias towards seniors. About a third were Greek. Only 35% of the respondents lived on campus, so the survey results are a significant representation of those students who must walk off campus to return home. Fully half were not affiliated with college housing whatsoever.

B. STATUS QUO

Student perception of campus safety was actually quite high, though the data was collected prior to two more recent attacks. 72% Said they felt “Safe” or “Very Safe” on campus, with only 7% feeling “Unsafe.” About ten percent of students carry some sort of personal self-defense item, the most common being pepper spray. 80% of students report regularly locking their doors at night.

Of students who live off campus, 57% walk home alone at night at least 2-3 times a week, 32% of them every night. On the Blue Lights meant to serve as emergency warning systems, only about half of respondents said they thought they would know how to use the system in an emergency.

As for the yellowjacket escorts, 96% of students are aware of them, but only 2% use the service. The explanations provided were about evenly split between students not thinking they needed protection, feeling odd calling other students for an escort and an inconveniently long waiting period before the yellowjackets arrive (often 15 minutes). When asked whether they would take advantage of a van which could drive them home at night, 25% of students who lived off campus said yes, 30% said no and the rest said they were uncertain.

As far as reported security incidents go there were relatively few (about 15, all total). A few students reported being offered rides by suspicious characters late at night. One student reported a man walking his dogs being inappropriately aggressive in attempts to engage in conversation. Another was harassed by a stranger late at night with sexually provocative catcalls and an attempt to get the student to “come here.” One student reported being followed home by a man from town who swore and attempted entry to the student’s house, the student called the police and he fled. Multiple students have had bikes stolen, and several report being harassed by gangs of teenagers. The most disturbing incident was a home invasion in which the intruder stole a computer and entered a room where a student was sleeping, only to flee when they awoke.

When asked where they felt unsafe, there were many who mentioned the walk between campus and particular off campus facilities, especially Tamarac/the gym, the dance studio and North. Crossing Isaacs and the area near the Apex were also frequently reported as areas that felt unsafe. The pathways between academic buildings and dorms and the Harper Joy parking lot were mentioned to a lesser extent. Requests for more lighting concerned essentially the same areas, and Chuck Cleveland’s decision to keep the tennis court lights functioning on Friday and Saturday nights was widely praised.

C. POTENTIAL PROGRAMS

In terms of registering valuables, 82% of students have not registered their laptops in case of theft and 95% have unregistered bikes. 80% of students said that if Whitman offered a valuables registration program, they would use it. This result was probably the clearest mandate to come out of the survey. As for other suggestions, the following percentages are the students who thought the idea would be “Helpful” or “Very Helpful.”

1. Pepper spray in bookstore: 31%

2. Better lighting on/directly off campus: 78%

3. More Security officers: 54%

4. More Yellowjackets: 29%

5. More Self-Defense Classes offered: 45%

6. Emergency Whistles: 51%

7. More Blue Security Lights: 49%

Recommendations

In response to the above, my committee and I have a number of ideas, and will generate more as our research continues to bear fruit. These recommendations are primarily for the college administration, thought they contain some suggestions for the Greek community and general items of concern for all students and faculty. The recommendations are detailed below.

A. ITEMS FOR IMMEDIATE ACTION

First, we believe the college should immediately begin a valuables registration program to help students recover stolen property. There is a clear mandate, and it would be of obvious benefit with virtually no cost.

Second, we recommend fraternities begin ensuring there are several designated individuals to ensure that intoxicated students or those who otherwise might need escort have at least the option of someone to walk them home. Since both security and the Walla Walla PD generally steer clear of fraternity functions and they tend to involve high alcohol consumption late at night by students who will have to walk home, they are the most vulnerable times for Whitman students, and great care should be taken. Some Fraternities already provide this service, for which they should be applauded.

Third, security’s non-safety related duties should be reassigned. Currently the one security officer on duty is also responsible for returning vans to the physical plant and locking up the soccer field, relatively unimportant tasks which create dangerous windows of vulnerability when the campus is without a security officer.

Fourth, Whitman should request that the Walla Walla PD increase patrols near Whitman’s campus, for obvious reasons.

Fifth, Sorority members should be granted blanket swipe access to Prentiss at all hours. Sorority chapter meetings usually take place after Prentiss is locked, and as a result some sorority girls are forced to wait in the dark until someone lets them into the building. This is unnecessary and unsafe.

Sixth, pepper spray should be made available for purchase in the bookstore in order to provide students with the opportunity for self-defense. A handout explaining its proper use should be provided.

Seventh, the administration should begin publicly notifying students of the details of security incidents which could potentially affect them in the future, broadly construed. The administration has bravely decided in other programs that “shattering the silence” regarding sexual assault and making it clear that Whitman is not a place free from such violence was more important than maintaining the illusion of a perfect community. Something similar is necessary with other types of threats to the student body.

Eighth, yellowjackets should spend most of their rotation waiting at public areas like Reid and the Library in particular, making themselves available for escort duty. This would eliminate the time delay and difficulty contacting them which students have reported in the past. Whether students could overcome their reported feelings of awkwardness remains to be seen, but the opportunity should be provided and it would be an improvement over the status quo. The yellowjackets should also be better advertised.

B. BY AT LEAST NEXT SEMESTER

First, Whitman should begin printing the phone numbers of security and the health center, as well as possibly the email address of the student affairs chair, on the Whitman ID cards. This would facilitate communication.

Second, Whitman should hire one of the local self-defense instructors to immediately restart the self-defense SSRA listed in the course catalog.

Third, the campus should invest in better lighting in critical campus areas such as the paths to Tamarac/the gym, the dance studio and north. The availability of blue lights in these areas should also be examined, and if necessary additional blue lights should be installed.

Fourth, the campus should begin a new orientation program, probably through residence life, which would explain the security situation and security resources on campus. Security officers could be introduced, the function of the blue lights explained, the number for security programmed into cell-phones. Students could be made aware of the self-defense SSRA and told the method and importance of reporting security issues, as well as how the campus emergency alert system functions, etc.

Fifth, money should be allocated to enhance security. At least one, ideally two or three new security officers should be hired to ensure that all shifts are covered even if an officer is ill and that there are two officers available on all high-risk nights, ie Fridays, Saturdays and holidays. These officers should be in the physical shape necessary to run down and restrain perpetrators and should be trained in the techniques necessary to accomplish physical restraint. Stopping offenders permanently requires their capture. Crimes at Whitman are often committed by the same individual over and over (see above) and the resolution of these crime waves typically takes the form of the offenders capture. There have also been times, however, when security was unable to successfully capture or retain subjects, leading to the continuance of the crimes. Officers should also be equipped with handcuffs and potentially tasers or pepper spray depending on the estimations of their effectiveness by security.

Sixth, the security staff should be provided with vehicles such as motorized scooters to increase their mobility and response time. They should also begin wearing uniforms which identify them to the student body, to ensure that Whitman students know who they are in an emergency and to provide a deterrent effect to criminals.

Seventh, the campus should do its best to transition to more swipe access for Lyman and the IHC. Swipe access allows buildings to be locked 24/7 while still permitting student access, and virtually all of the burglaries that have occurred near the college have been targeted at unlocked buildings. The committee recognizes that the extreme expense of these systems makes this a long-term goal.

ASWC

ASWC is pursuing a number of initiatives to do our part to increase campus security. Although security is primarily the responsibility of the administration, and should remain so, we believe there are a number of ways we can supplement the administration’s efforts in this difficult economic clime. Because of ASWC’s limited authority, our actions will largely have to take the form of advocacy, but we will pursue what solutions we can diligently.

First, ASWC has prepared this report and the aforementioned survey, and will continually pursue research on improving security throughout the semester, and potentially beyond, in pursuit of a safer campus.

Second, ASWC will likely soon purchase “emergency whistles” on keychains for students which alert nearby students to the need to call 911. These devices are much quicker than cell phones, may scare attackers and ensure that any nearby aid is alerted to the emergency. The whistles should not be blown frivolously, and if that becomes a problem we will recommend to the college a fine be imposed for their misuse. We hope that the ease of access to one’s keychain will make this a convenient safety tool.    

Third, ASWC will soon engage in a poster campaign to publicize the newly enhanced security resources the college deploys, and encourage students to adopt more healthy safety habits. We will also continue to advocate the above issues to the administration and board of trustees.

Conclusion

In the end, Whitman has to face the reality that the community is becoming more violent and hostile towards the college, and that the current safety measures are simply inadequate. No one likes to be reminded that they are unsafe, but we are in many ways forced to choose between the illusion of safety we can achieve by sticking our heads in the sand, and the real safety we can move towards by acknowledging the hardships we face and working together as a community to solve them, regardless of the discomfort that confronting our problems may produce.

This committee urges the college to take immediate, decisive action wherever possible and to produce serious, long-term solutions to the Whitman security situation through a transparent process capable of incorporating dialogue with the Whitman community.

Comments, questions, concerns and suggestions are highly valued, and I can be reached via email at  [email protected].

Thank you for your time,

Roman Emerson Goerss

Whitman Student Body Vice-President

Chairman of Student Affairs