Communication junior Justin Barbin said he had hit a low point after being mugged 5 feet from his apartment door at about 10 p.m. on May 7, but he never imagined a response as significant as that from a portion of the Northwestern community in the days that followed.
By Sunday night that weekend, Barbin said he was invited to a Facebook event to raise money to replace the camera that was stolen during the incident. In just more than a week, the event has raised more than $1,000, enough to buy him a camera even better than his previous one.
“I always, always have my camera on me,” said former Weekly staffer Barbin, who said he takes photos, usually without pay, for campus media organizations like STITCH, nearly every Theatre and Interpretation Center event and various student group performances.
Barbin said a string of events, like not attending a formal he had planned to attend that night, missing an earlier shuttle that evening and then getting off a stop early to buy a slushie at 7-Eleven, led him to that moment. Already dealing with personal issues, Barbin said being attacked and then having his camera stolen hit him especially hard.
However, Barbin said he was quickly swept up by the “kindness of strangers,” including a couple who lived in his apartment building and came to his rescue after the incident, the Evanston Police Department detective who handled his case and various people around campus who campaigned to help him out.
Communication freshman Nicole Silverberg, who is involved in Griffin’s Tale with Barbin, called the community efforts to replace Barbin’s camera “fast and furious.”
To help raise money for a camera, Griffin’s Tale organized “Barbin Camera Bonanza” at The Keg of Evanston on Saturday night, she said. The Titanic Players, The Undertones and Griffin’s Tale all performed at the event, which had a suggested donation of $5, for the “inspiring individual with a heart of gold.” About 100 people or more attended the event, Silverberg said.
In addition, Barbin’s friend Mert Iseri, a McCormick junior, set up an online donation site via PayPal.
Communication sophomore Lucas McMahon said Barbin is an “incredible” part of the community. He said he showed up to Saturday’s event because he was willing to do anything to show his support for Barbin, who is constantly lending his photography skills to the arts community.
“He has been so generous and gracious always,” McMahon said.
Despite the terror the incident caused him, Barbin isn’t vengeful.
Two suspects were apprehended a few blocks from the scene of the incident, but as it had been hard to see the faces of the men who took his camera, Barbin didn’t identify them, he said.
“If I wasn’t 100 percent sure, I wasn’t going to ruin these kids’ lives,” Barbin said.
As for the results of the fundraising, Barbin said he “had no idea it would just take off” and supposed his friends would raise $100 or $200.
The various organizers of the event and the PayPal site for Barbin wanted to ensure there was enough money for him to buy a good camera as well as accessories, Silverberg said.
“We said, ‘You should be able to buy your dream camera when this is all over,'” she said.
A wall post left by Barbin on the Facebook event for The Keg fundraiser said when he found out about it during Griffin’s Tale’s rehearsals, he was “floored.”
“I just want to gather everyone up into a group hug,” he wrote. “I am speechless.”
