Survey: 1 of 3 UNC Students Feels Unsafe at Night

Earlier this year, Matista said two men asking for money blocked her path and made her and her roommate feel threatened in the unlit parking lot behind Fraternity Court.

That time, Matista and her roommate were unharmed. A police car pulled up, and the two men fled, she said.

But Matista said that since the incident, she does not walk from her Granville Towers room to campus without another person -- and even then, she still doesn't feel safe.

"Since then, I don't ever walk around at night alone or even just with my roommate," she said.

And Matista is not alone in feeling unsafe walking on campus at night.

According to a poll conducted by The Daily Tar Heel last week, almost one in three students feels unsafe walking on campus at night.

Overall, students almost unanimously -- 99.5 percent -- feel safe on campus during the day, but only 69.3 percent feel that way after dark.

But the degree of students' feelings of safety differs dramatically. While 87 percent said they feel very safe during the day, only 15.8 percent said they feel very safe at night.

The poll, which was conducted by telephone April 1 through April 8, surveyed 385 randomly selected undergraduate, graduate and professional students regarding their opinions about the level of safety on campus.

Students assessed their feelings about campus safety through a series of eight questions. The results have a sampling error of plus or minus 5 percent.

The issue of campus safety has come to the forefront after three on-campus assaults were reported in recent months. Safety concerns also were a major issue in the discussion of a night parking program the UNC Board of Trustees rejected at its meeting last month.

On Jan. 19, a male and female student were robbed at gunpoint shortly after 9 p.m. near Coker Arboretum. The two suspects took an unknown amount of money from the students and then fled on foot.

Two months later, a 21-year-old female student reported that she was the victim of a misdemeanor assault while working in the Morehead Parking Lot on March 20. Police said the incident involved a man who inappropriately touched the victim.

Three days later, a female student reported that she was the victim of a sexual assault that occurred Feb. 27. The student reported that she was forced to the ground by her assailant near Alumni Hall and that she then blacked out. Police said the student was a victim of a sexual assault, although University Police Chief Derek Poarch did not describe the incident as a rape.

Police have not made an arrest in any of the three assaults.

About two out of five, or 43.8 percent, of the students responded that they were more afraid walking on campus at night than they had been before learning of the three assaults.

More than 92 percent of students said they knew about the assaults.

But Sue Kitchen, vice chancellor for student affairs, dismissed the idea that students are unsafe on campus. Kitchen said that students' safety concerns do not reflect their actual risk on campus but rather reflect their misperception that the campus is unsafe.

"There is a gap in perception," Kitchen said. "When incidents (like the assaults) occur, it raises the feeling of being unsafe."

Kitchen said if students were to feel completely safe, they would be more susceptible to an assault. "I don't want people to feel unsafe," she said. "I want them to feel safety-conscious. I would be troubled if 100 percent of the entire campus felt safe because that would make us ripe for crime."

Poarch also said he thinks it is useful for students to feel somewhat unsafe.

"I think the University community should never get to the point where they feel totally safe -- then they are going to drop their guard," he said. "In a perfect place there is no crime, but we are not in a perfect place -- there is no perfect place."

Student Body President Jen Daum, who made campus safety a top platform goal during her campaign, disagreed with Kitchen and Poarch's interpretation. She said that even if there are misperceptions about campus safety, the impact on students' behavior is worth addressing.

"This confirms my suspicions that there is a rising sense that we are not as safe as once thought," Daum said.

Daum said she was dismayed at the number of students who said in the poll that they were concerned about their safety. She said feeling safe on campus is critical to maintaining student life and a vibrant campus atmosphere.

"There is no reason one in three students should feel unsafe," she said. "That is definitely a problem."

Daum also pointed to the 20.9 percent of students -- such as Matista -- who said they have felt threatened while on campus, claiming that the results indicate that students' fear is not just a perception.

"That's huge -- it says to me that the University needs to take drastic measures and prioritize this issue, and I hope the administration joins student government in that effort," she said.

But Poarch was hesitant to say that the survey's results indicated a need for action. He refused to draw any conclusions from the difference in students' perceived levels of safety during the day and at night and said it is reasonable for students to feel less safe at night.

To further disprove students' perceptions, Poarch said that campus crime statistics actually show a decrease in crime in recent years. At last month's BOT meeting, Poarch said there were eight crimes against persons on campus in 2000. In 2001, that number decreased to five.

"While one crime is too many, the statistics say the campus has become a safe place," Poarch said Wednesday.

He defined crimes against persons as assaults, rape, robbery and murder.

Poarch said he is not battling a high crime rate as much as a misperception of crime on campus. "I don't know how you make people feel safe," he said.

Since the assaults, Poarch said he has deployed extra officers to North Campus and other areas to make officers more visible to students.

Both Poarch and Kitchen stressed safety tips such as using the buddy system and the Point-2-Point to reduce the risk of being assaulted.

Chancellor James Moeser was unable to be reached by telephone Wednesday but also stressed his awareness of campus safety in an e-mail. "I want to make it clear that there is no higher priority at Carolina than safety on campus, and that involves each of us taking personal responsibility for our own personal safety," Moeser stated.

But survey participant Sara Lewkowicz said campus safety cannot be based on crime statistics and the Department of Public Safety's prevention tips alone.

Lewkowicz, a freshman from New York, said students' feelings about campus safety are equally important.

"It doesn't matter as much what the crime statistics are -- clearly people feel unsafe, and the University needs to make people feel safe, make people feel not threatened in their own area," she said.

Lewkowicz said the campus officials' reaction to the poll statistics creates a continuous perception of risk. "I think that attitude just encourages us to feel unsafe, if the administration doesn't respond to people feeling unsafe," she said.

Daum echoed the concerns of Lewkowicz and Matista. She said her administration will put pressure on UNC officials to make sure students feel safe.

Daum said the way to do that is expand and institutionalize programs such as the new Safe Ride initiative that expands P2P stops on Franklin Street. She also said more money is needed for SAFE Escort and P2P vans that take students directly to their destination.

"We need to take the necessary steps to correct the perception that campus is unsafe, but we don't need to be unsafe in order to do that."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.