Although the College has weathered several incidents of trespassing and alleged sexual assault in the last two terms, most students still say they feel safe on campus because of Dartmouth's small size and isolated location.
Last term, a student in French residence hall awoke with an unidentified man on top of her in her bed, with the light turned off and a condom wrapper on the floor.
Over Winter Carnival weekend, a women in Morton Hall reported an alleged sexual assault and six other students in the East Wheelock cluster reported intruders in their rooms.
"It hasn't changed my mind about safety," said James Jung '98, who lives in Morton. He said he is confident that the crimes were only isolated incidents.
He said Safety and Security served the College well and that a great cause to the crimes were people leaving their doors unlocked and propping open outer doors.
"It's our responsibility too," he said.
While many people say they feel safe enough to disregard locking their doors, Crime Prevention Officer Rebel Roberts and some students stress such precautions are still necessary.
"Overall, Dartmouth is a safe campus," Roberts said. "But people have to take precautions."
Roberts said she regrets many students do not take simple precautions -- like locking their doors and windows -- to protect themselves.
"We never lock our door," said Pankaj Gupta '98, who lives in French Hall.
Others said they care enough to lock their doors on special occasions.
"I only lock during Carnival or Homecoming," said Alireza Odouli '97. "We usually don't lock our doors."
He said he feels safe on campus because of its small size and because he feels like he knows most of the people on campus.
David Monaco '96, who said Dartmouth is the "safest place around," said he feels very safe walking around alone at night and leaving his room unlocked. He attributed his sense of security to Dartmouth's location and low crime rate.
When break-ins and other crimes occur, Safety and Security cooperates with Hanover Police to investigate the illegal activity, Senior Associate Dean of the College Dan Nelson said.
He said for some incidents, such as an intrusion, ORL and Safety and Security will coordinate to rapidly publicize the situation. For instance, after the Morton incident, the two groups posted warning signs in the residence hall by the end of the day.
"I think Dartmouth is a comparatively safe campus, in part because of where we're located," Nelson said.
"It's easy for us to feel complacent," Nelson said.
Nelson said that if students would not leave their wallets and purses lying around and refrain from propping open dormitory doors during major weekends, they could help with some of the problems.
Jennifer Boyer '95 said she feels safe enough to brave Hanover's streets at night and she feels especially secure when sleeping because she locks her room at night.
But some women expressed more concern about safety.
Jessica Kim '98 said she feels relatively safe but she had some reservations about the manner in which her dormitory, McLane Hall, was protected over Winter Carnival.
"My dorm wasn't locked," she said. "It's not consistent."
She also said she feels the generally-unlit walkway between the River Cluster and the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration is potentially dangerous.
Roberts said students should call the Safety and Security for a walking or driving escort at night rather than walk alone.
Roberts said that the campus' lighting has improved in the last few years. She added that Safety and Security regularly holds campus lighting tours during which officers look at every lamp for dead bulbs and determine where new lights are needed.
Nelson said the administration has discussed the proposition to install electronic security systems keeping doors locked in dormitories.
He said his major concerns were the cost and student acceptance.
"Will students support such a system or will they prop the doors open?" he said.
