Chris FrazierOn Sept. 27, N.C. Central University students woke up to an email sent by the campus police. It informed them of a rape that took place at the Benjamin S. Ruffin Residence Hall around 2:00 a.m.
Throughout the day, students discovered through outside sources that there had been a second sexual assault days earlier at Ruffin.
At 10:06 p.m., NCCU Communications provided an update on the two incidents. They confirmed that both suspects have been arrested and in both cases, the suspect and victim were students and that they knew each other.
They also added that the earlier assault, which was classified as a fondling case, took place on Sept. 23, in the Chidley North Residence Hall, not Ruffin as earlier rumored.
Tavia Ferebee, a psychology sophomore, said she had first learned about the rape from an online article of a local television station.
“I hope there’s something put in place to prevent this from happening to somebody else,” she said, adding that she often asks one of her friends to walk with her to park her car. “We need a buddy system,” she added.
“Stuff like that shouldn’t happen,” said Chidley resident Synai Chung, a social work freshman.
After learning about the case in Chidley, Chung said that students should have been made aware of that case when it happened.
“Whether it’s minor or big… we should be updated on everything that happens on campus,” said Chung.
Laila Jackson, an IT sophomore, said that women need an “extra defense mechanism.”
“Whether pepper spray… a class, or something to learn how to protect ourselves,” she said.
According to NCCU Chief of Police, Damon Williams, the fondling incident at Chidley didn’t warrant a campus-wide alert because the speed of the investigation proved that there was no “continuing threat on campus.”
“In the second situation [Ruffin], the potential for a threat existed, because we didn’t know where the individual was,” he said. The assailant would be apprehended shortly after the alert.
Williams said that moving forward, the campus police is all about “educating” the student body, not only on consent and defending themselves, but on the available resources.
The Campus Police will continue to provide Rape Aggression Defense (R.A.D.) training throughout the academic year.
The department held its most recent class on September 18, but turnout was low. “Twenty people signed up… with four completing the course,” Williams said.
The Chief said “CrimeLog,” a resource that features all the crime and fire incidents, is available for students online.
Lastly, Williams said that the last Town Hall that was hosted by Campus Police also had a poor turnout. He said he would like more students to attend in the future.
“Most students didn’t go to the Town Hall, because they felt it was a safe campus,” he said. “We need to continue to educate…even when times are good.”
