If it were not for the anonymous app YikYak, I would not have known about the October 12 shooting of a Holy Cross College student on Notre Dame Avenue.

According to the South Bend Tribune, Holy Cross senior Michael Pilcher was at home in the 600-block of Notre Dame Avenue—approximately a mile south of the Dome—at 3 a.m. on October 12, when three minors approached the house with intention to rob.  Both the Tribune and WNDUreport that it is unclear who shot whom first, but Pilcher sustained gunshot wounds to the head and leg, one of which shattered his femur.

The administration appears to have ignored this grave incident, which occurred during a home football weekend.  Neither Notre Dame nor Saint Mary’s students received notification of the crime from the Notre Dame Security Police (NDSP) or the Off-Campus Council (OCC), and the Observer only published one report and one Viewpoint about it.  When Notre Dame students received the latest Safety Beat email at the end of November, the interactive crime map showing campus conveniently cut off before the location of the shooting.

Of course, Pilcher is a student at Holy Cross, an independent institution not under the jurisdiction of NDSP.  Given the relationship between the schools, though, as well as the fact that it occurred in an area with dense student population, Notre Dame’s lack of notification is inexcusable.

Daniel Sullivan suggested in his October 14 Viewpoint: “Off-campus students should know whether or not they can safely return home.  People visiting friends or going to parties on the weekends should know what areas to avoid.  Even if there is no continued threat, we have a right to know when one of our own is a victim so that we might support one another.”

Sullivan is absolutely correct about this.  The lack of response to this incident and others inspires little confidence in the administration’s concern for student safety.  When the administration does not alert students and employees to crimes on and around campus, it is easy to interpret their silence as apathy for safety.  At worst, it could be construed as intentional neglect of legitimate concerns in the interest of preserving Notre Dame’s reputation as a safe and secure place.

The failure in communication is sobering, to say the least.

In my time at Notre Dame, we have seen a gunpoint robbery on West Quad, an attempted stabbing in a dorm, a shooting at Brother’s on Eddy Street, and a recent shooting in the 1200-block of South Bend Avenue, among other violent incidents.  Students received an alert for only the first of these.

Instead of seeing mostly student-on-student crime, we are seeing crimes against students by visitors to campus.  According to an April 9 article from WSBT, three Notre Dame students were robbed at gunpoint in the span of a few weeks last spring.  They were all close to campus.  Simply staying away from or else being especially careful in shadier areas is still not enough to avoid robbery, as evidenced by the armed robbery outside of a West Quad dorm last school year.

Of course, no campus can be totally crime-free, and compared to other schools, Notre Dame is a relatively safe place.  In the past 20 years, the university and city of South Bend have made great strides in improving the surrounding neighborhoods.  This includes the construction of Eddy Street Commons, more student apartment buildings, and encouraged housing options for faculty and staff.

Other beneficial services include lovely NDSP officers who walk through the dorms every night, O’SNAP so that students need not worry about traveling alone, and an abundance of cab services in South Bend.

As we look forward in light of the nasty crimes of the past few years, these surrounding areas must be better secured through a more coordinated approach to addressing crime.  Of course, this necessarily includes measures to alleviate poverty, promote education, limit drug abuse, etc. in order to discourage crime in the first place.  Along with prevention, an effective response will require concerted effort from Notre Dame, the city of South Bend, community members, and students.

Incidents around campus do not just affect students.  If Notre Dame, the South Bend Police Department, and the city of South Bend collaborated more effectively to alert students and community members to crimes—not only against other students, but also against community members in surrounding neighborhoods—individuals could better respond to and take proactive measures against incidents.

With all of the construction around campus, once somewhat central parking lots are now on the extremities of campus, often close to busy roads and wooded areas.  Students, faculty, and staff must now travel farther to and from their cars, thus making them easier targets for crime.  NDSP did announce in a November 19 email that “[a] free shuttle for students, faculty and staff will operate weekdays from 7 to 9 a.m., 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and 4 to 7 p.m.” on a loop around campus.  This is indeed a fine arrangement, but it took Crossroads to make it happen.

Perhaps if services like this were standard, crime rates would decrease.  Venturing off campus—especially for students returning to their houses or apartments—would be safer if Notre Dame offered more shuttle services with stops at major apartment complexes and neighborhoods.  Another viable option for addressing crime would be incorporating several weeks of a mandatory self-defense rotation into the freshman “cultural competency” course that will replace physical education next year.

Responsibility certainly is not a purely institutional directive; it is imperative for students to educate themselves.  This means taking advantage of the services to which we have access, like “Blinky,” the Saint Mary’s shuttle van, and the bus system.  Likewise, keeping track of local news outlets, especially through social media, is a simple way to gauge relative safety of different areas.  And, as every Crime Alert email says, staying alert of surroundings and taking proactive measures (like staying in groups, not walking alone, carrying mace, locking doors and windows, and reporting suspicious activity) should be no-brainers.

We must retain realistic expectations for managing and addressing crime; Notre Dame will never be free of incidents.  If, however, the university, community, and students make prevention and response higher priorities, Notre Dame can be a safer place.

 

Lilia Draime is an off-campus senior history major with minors in constitutional studies and philosophy, religion, and literature.  Over Thanksgiving break, she and her doubles partner established an approximate record of 20-1 in Mario Tennis for the Nintendo 64.  Contact her at ldraime@nd.edu.