Out of the University’s many on-campus living options, Nicolson is one of the residence halls that is predominantly inhabited by first-year and second-year students. Offering several community-based floors such as the quiet floor, substance-free floor, and all-men’s floor, Nicolson attracts many students every year.
On Oct. 22, students and staff received an alarming email communicating that a female student reported a camera filming her while she was showering in the Nicolson 7 building. My friends and I shuddered at the news because this was something that we had not expected to occur at a residence hall like Nicolson. The email contained a short description of the incident, and a statement that the suspect was not caught.
Just five days after the first incident, students and staff received another email. A similar incident occurred in Nicolson 5. The suspect fled the scene again. The Office of Residential Life encouraged Nicolson students to use a buddy system when taking a shower. The email noted an ongoing investigation and increased appearance of Public Safety officers in the hallways, but no further details about the incidents or the suspect.
At this point, Nicolson became the most talked-about dormitory on campus. Many students began to concoct hypotheses regarding the situation. Others even took tours to see the bathrooms. Some theorize that both incidents were done by the same individual, while others believe it was possibly someone who doesn’t attend the University. There are even suspicions that there are multiple people involved. Regardless of the many theories and jokes, students at Nicolson continue to live in fear.
Noticing the gravity of the concern, Public Safety officers and Residential Life hosted a community meeting on Oct. 30 for all Nicolson residents who want to know more about the ongoing investigation and to ask any questions. The vast majority of the attendees were female students who were frustrated with the situation. There was an air of fear around the room as officers responded to concerns and talked about the implementation of shower curtains in an attempt to prevent this action from occurring again. Officers were not able to provide further details about the suspect other than their assumption that the suspect was the same in both cases.
But the most interesting detail that we learned is that not only did it happen twice, but it actually happened three times. An officer briefly mentioned that it occurred earlier in Nicolson 6, but the female victim did not report it until the alert emails went out. They do not have any more details about when and where it took place. All we know is that the suspect is still not caught.
Ultimately, the officers suggested temporary solutions to students, such as continuing to use the buddy system for showering until the suspect is caught and to utilize the emergency contacts that they shared at the meeting. They also stated that there will be a more visible appearance of Public Safety officers in the hallways.
As of Oct. 31, some curtains have been installed in the communal bathrooms throughout Nicolson. One of the communal bathrooms in Nicolson 6 only has two shower curtains implemented out of four total stalls. This is the case in many of the other bathrooms in the Nicolson dorms. They made at least one bathroom in all three Nicolson buildings women only as well. Since this implementation is quite new, it will take some time to evaluate how effective this solution will be. However, with the given amount of information, the investigation seems far from getting resolved.
At this point, we wonder how and why this incident keeps reoccuring at Nicolson? Is this due to lack of preparation by the administration or the physical features of Nicolson that increase the likelihood of suspicious activity like this? The fact that the same incident occurred three times to students—specifically female students—is truly disheartening.
The administration was underprepared to handle this situation considering that these incidents resulted in three different female victims. However, I do believe Public Safety and Residential Life are doing there best to resolve the issue. I’m mainly disappointed by the lack of preparation by the administration. The suspect (possibly an identical person in all three incidents) swept through three different buildings.
Yes, there were emails sent out by Residential Life and a community meeting with Public Safety officers, but the administration should’ve taken more assertive actions towards the suspect when it was first reported in Nicolson 7. They could’ve sent out a more clear and urgent announcement to the whole University community (including families and students) to raise awareness that actions like these cannot be condoned. In the email, they also could’ve laid out the consequences of these crimes more authoritatively to serve as a serious warning to hinder the suspect from recommitting. The administration should reinforce the honor code and consequences of illegal activities like this more seriously.
Furthermore, students at Nicolson are receiving limited information in regards to these incidents. Since there are no surveillance cameras, there is little to no concrete information about these incidents. There was also not an increased presence of Public Safety officers immediately after the first incident took place since they didn’t anticipate another to occur. As a result, students do not know many details regarding the incidents, such as which bathroom (except the Nicolson 7 incident), or what time of the day the incidents took place. Thus, students are poorly prepared to protect themselves in the future. This again demonstrates that the administration was underprepared to respond to activities like this since there were two more female victims after the first report went out. These incidents must not be forgotten and must not remain unresolved. The victims deserve more.
On a different note, is there a specific Nicolson feature that contributes to an increasing number of privacy violation incidents? According to the officers at the meeting, as far as they know, this type of incident has never happened in any residence halls or community-based living options. But at Nicolson this year, three occurred in a very short amount of time.
So what about Nicolson makes it easier for this to occur three times? One fact is that Nicolson does not have single-user or gendered bathrooms, meaning all genders use the same bathroom, making it harder to prevent a privacy violation like this targeted specifically at female students. The suspect can more easily access a female student’s space without suspicion.
Another issue might be the building structure of Nicolson itself, since it is quite confusing to navigate all three Nicolson buildings. So it may be harder for a student to receive help from others, or for others to notice that something suspicious is happening somewhere inside the building. Additionally, it may be more difficult for Public Safety officers to reach the victim in a timely manner because of the style of the architecture.
Moreover, the style of living that Nicolson offers may increase the likelihood of these types of incidences. Nicolson has community-based living options like a quiet floor and substance-free floor. There are significantly less noisy parties and gatherings in Nicolson compared to other living options. Thus, Nicolson has fewer outsiders walking in and out of the building. So a suspect may feel more comfortable executing his plan in an undisturbed and uncrowded zone, where they don’t attract many people. Their actions are more likely to be unseen by others.
Ultimately, there is an ongoing investigation that seems far from getting resolved. Our email inboxes have been quite silent lately. Nevertheless, the administration must strive to resolve the investigation to prevent further incidence.
Grace Lee is a member of the class of 2029 and can be reached at glee01@wesleyan.edu.
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