Screams that sparked a campus-wide BlitzMail rumor that a rape occurred on Rip Road actually came from a verbal argument between a man and two women that occurred following a party involving underage drinking, Hanover Police Chief Kurt Schimke said.
"There is no rapist and no safety concern," he said. "I wouldn't hesitate to encourage people to go on about their normal routine on Rip Road." The road is part of a three-and-one-half mile loop frequented by runners, walkers and bikers.
While phrases including "get off her" and "you're going home" were reported and might have given the impression of rape, from speaking to those involved and witnesses the night of the fight, the police determined the fight was "entirely verbal," Schimke said. "There was no evidence of an attack and no evidence of an assault."
"On August 3 at about 3:15 a.m. we received a few telephone reports from people from the Pine Drive, Rip Road vicinity," he said. "They were about people screaming and noise. One reported a fight." Pine Drive is the first road off of Rip Road coming from West Wheelock Street.
After receiving the calls, Hanover police investigated and discovered that a party involving high school and college age people had taken place at a private residence in the area while the parents were away, Schimke said.
The man involved in the fight is a student at the College and was taken into protective custody because he had been drinking, but no charges were filed against him, Schimke said. The two women were high school age. Schimke said he could not release any of the names.
Police arrested one teenager, who had attended the party but did not appear to be involved in the fight, for possession of alcohol, he added.
According to Sergeant Walt Geisbusch, no instances of rape or sexual assault of any kind have been reported to the Hanover Police in the past few weeks.
Still, electronic messages about a rape inundated BlitzMail mailboxes throughout the weekend. The first message, mailed out Friday afternoon, suggested that a rape occurred last Monday evening but the second, sent out Sunday, dispelled the rumor, alluded to the party and warned students to be careful.
Dean of Residential Life Mary Turco, the dean on call at the time, learned of the allegations through Safety and Security, contacted authorities and traced the rumor through people who had called in about the incident.
Turco said a recent graduate overheard two women, who had reported the screams the previous night, saying that it was a rape. Though neither of the two women are students, the rumor reached campus when the alumna notified several of her undergraduate friends out of concern, who then spread the story through a network of students, Turco said. The only detail that changed was the time, which was translated from 3 a.m. Tuesday to dinner time Monday.
Though the original message was sent to a limited number of students, it encouraged those who received it to forward it to all women on campus, and many students received multiple copies.
About a dozen concerned students called Safety and Security and several more sent in BlitzMail messages, College Proctor Robert McEwen said. He encouraged students who hear such information in the future to contact his office or the Hanover Police to investigate a rumor before they spread it.
The information in the first BlitzMail message, sent out by Jill Feldman '94, was based on fourth- or fifth-hand information, though she said she had not been aware that the account had already been passed on so many times.
Feldman and Turco drafted a BlitzMail message Sunday retracting allegations of rape and explaining what the police told them had happened.
"My intention was to prevent this from happening again -- it wasn't to spread a rumor," Feldman said.
Feldman said many of her friends exercise on Rip Road and wanted to make sure people were aware of the safety concerns, especially about walking or running alone at night.
With the second BlitzMail message, she said she and Turco "wanted everyone to know what really happened so people wouldn't be freaking out but would realize this is not a utopia."
Although the electronic message alarmed students unnecessarily, Turco said it showed "we have a concerned network of women on campus." She said the initial message was headed "BE CAREFUL."
