In the fourth reported attack in Evanston this quarter, a 23-year-old recent Northwestern graduate said she was assaulted outside her apartment door at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The woman, who wished to remain anonymous, was walking from the Dempster Street El stop to her apartment on Oak Avenue and Dempster. She was on her way home from work, she said.

The man followed her from the El and “conned his way into the apartment” by saying he was visiting a cousin, she said.

The woman said she checked her mail and watched the man walk upstairs. While opening the door to her first floor apartment, she said she heard the man coming back down the stairs.

“He put his hand on my back and tried to push me inside,” she said.

“The man told her ‘just get into the apartment,'” said her roommate, who was in the apartment.

The woman said she screamed and the man fled after seeing the roommate.

The woman filed a report with the Evanston Police Department. She said police told her they don’t think this assault is related to the other incidents, based on her description of the attacker.

Police told her they thought the assault was a “spontaneous” attack, the roommate said.

Rachel Lopez, co-founder of Northwestern’s Safety Alliance, said her initial reaction was fear for students.

“We really need to step up our actions to make sure students are safe,” said Lopez, Associated Student Government president.

She said campus leaders are focusing on rerouting the shuttle system and emphasizing the use of the Student Escort Service for single travelers, providing “rape whistles” and self-defense classes.

But Lopez said awareness is still required to combat these attacks.

Women’s Coalition Director Nell Haynes said revamping shuttle and escort services is not the solution to the attacks.

“It’s become a scary time to live in Evanston,” she said. “People need to be aware and need to know how to defend themselves.”

Haynes said Women’s Co. is planning a self-defense forum in conjunction with University Police and is working to provide “rape whistles” and panic alarms to students.

“I just hope that we can come together as a campus and a community … to prevent attacks from happening,” Haynes said.

This is the fifth reported attack of this school year. A woman’s purse was snatched early Friday morning while she was walking with a friend in the parking lot at Englehart Hall.

Another woman was assaulted on May 9 near Oak and Greenwood about a block from Tuesday’s attack. She said a man came up behind her and attempted to drag her into an alley at knifepoint. On May 8, a woman was also attacked while walking near Englehart when a man attempted to drag her into a dark recess.

During Winter Quarter a woman was attacked while running on the Lakefill.