Last week, Tom Robbins, Boston University’s Chief of Police, sent out a timely reminder about personal safety on campus. Yesterday, we had a report of a suspicious person that didn’t pan out but got a lot of police scrutiny. And, a recent online piece in BU Today sparked conversation about carrying concealed weapons on the campus. All this recent activity and discussion also sparked a conversation about an available campus program for women that has not been mentioned in the e-mail messages and media coverage. Here’s a guest post from Robyn Fialkow, a senior studying in CAS:
It’s midnight on Bay State Road, and I’m leaving an on-call shift from Shelton and walking two blocks home to my warm apartment. The soft yellow streetlight falls onto the snow, and everything around me is silent, with the exception of a rat or two scurrying across the sidewalk. Although I feel that the Boston University campus is a safe community, it would be incredibly foolish to take this assumption for granted.
Whenever possible, I avoid walking alone at night. I do not walk through poorly lit areas, and my iPod stays put in my bag so that I may be more aware of my surroundings. Oftentimes, I carry a key between my fingers, and I have BUPD programmed on my speed dial. But despite these safety precautions, I still feel that I could be – and should be – more prepared for a potentially dangerous situation.
The Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) program offers this desired security for women. The 16-hour course, broken up into three-hour sessions over the span of several weeks, teaches realistic self-defense techniques and physical skills and covers strategies for awareness, prevention, and risk reduction as well. And an added perk: the opportunity to employ your newfound skills against our very own Dean of Students, Kenn Elmore.
The main reason I want to take the class? Let’s get real. No matter how safe our campus is, no matter how equipped with blue-light phones or strolling police cars, we still live in a city. It would be naïve to assume that nothing can happen in our B.U. bubble. Anyone is free to walk our streets at any time, and unfortunately, not all people have good intentions. While I do feel confident in our campus safety, I want to feel as prepared as possible should I encounter an aggressor. I know that the RAD class can teach me invaluable strategies that I could not learn elsewhere, and I am going to take advantage of the available resources so that I may protect myself to the best of my abilities.
While it is improbable that I will need to use these skills in the future, it would be imprudent and detrimental not to learn them. The RAD Program is a unique experience that provides a lifetime of knowledge and skills to better prepare and protect women from rape and violence.
Thanks Robyn, for the reminder. Please also remember the town hall meeting on safety, next Tuesday, February 10, in the GSU Conference Auditorium. Program starts at 6 p.m.
Be safe and stay well.
