A group of four prospective students and their parents huddled under The Arch on Tuesday — clad in hooded jackets and holding umbrellas. The group of nine listened to their tour guide, Communication junior Courtney Dunn, talk about Northwestern’s shuttle service, Escort Service and University Police.
When a parent asked her how safe the campus is, Dunn said she feels safe but reminded the mother that NU is close to Chicago and not immune to crime.
“The campus is completely open, therefore you need to make sure to use the same rules you use at home,” Dunn said. “Don’t walk alone at night — go out in groups.”
During the 75-minute tour, neither Dunn nor her fellow tour guide mentioned the recent string of attacks on students on or near campus. Dunn said that because the attacks are not typical of the experience at the university, talking about them would misrepresent NU to prospective students.
“I feel it would scare them away unnecessarily,” Dunn said. “Personally I’m not scared on campus, therefore I feel it’s unfair of me to instill fear in them.”
Still, the university now is grappling with how to protect its students. Nine students have been attacked since the beginning of the Fall Quarter.
But as administrators and University Police work with Evanston Police Department to investigate the crimes, officials also are dealing with how to address the incidents publicly.
Kevin Byrne, assistant director of undergraduate admissions who oversees NU’s tour guides, said the tours have not changed in light of the attacks. They always address campus safety by highlighting general resources, such as emergency phones and the campus shuttle service.
Student guides are free to talk about the crime increase in their tours if they want, Byrne said. But because attacks or vandalism are only a recent problem on campus, he also thinks it is unnecessary to bring up the incidents.
Erika Sanders, another assistant director of undergraduate admissions, said it is typical for parents to ask about campus safety, but she has only been asked about the recent attacks once.
That question came at a high school fair in Aurora, Ill., this year, when a student asked her if the attackers had been caught. She answered his question and told him what the university was doing to respond.
Sanders said she does not bring up the recent attacks in her presentations unless she is asked.
“For me to paint this place as an unsafe place would be unfair,” she said, adding that it’s more beneficial for parents and prospective students to hear about safety resources than to hear about specific crimes.
Still, Amy Weinstein, the mother of a 17-year-old prospective student, said she would have liked to hear about the recent attacks from the tour guides. Knowing about certain problems would not discourage her from sending her daughter to NU, she said.
“I don’t think (hearing about the recent attacks) would stop a kid from going here,” said Weinstein of Longmont, Colo. “But I think it’d raise the kid’s awareness.”
Some students said they believe the admissions office has a responsibility to talk about the crime increase on campus, whether prompted by group questions or not. Rob Kutter, a McCormick senior, agreed that tour guides need to address the recent attacks.
“If they’re being asked about safety on campus they should mention (recent attacks),” he said. “How can you not? There’s almost one attack per week. It’s ridiculous.”
He also said not talking about it with prospective students gives the university less incentive to improve safety on campus.
“If they can sweep it under the rug,” Kutter said, “they have no reason to do something about it.”
But Dunn said she isn’t trying to hide anything from prospective students.
“By no means are we trying to pull the blinds over their eyes,” she said. “But we’re not here to exaggerate the situation.”
