To the Editor:
Last month a woman I went to school with for over ten years was raped. She is a junior in college and lives by herself in an apartment. She left to take a walk one afternoon and a man entered her apartment, unlocked one of her windows and left. He returned later that night, when she was home, and let himself in through the window. This was the ninth such incident on that particular college campus in the last year.
The simple fact that the issue of a dormitory lock system has sparked so much opposition indicates the extent to which Dartmouth students value the freedom and personal safety we enjoy. We are extremely fortunate, although we occasionally complain about it, to live in a town as serene as Hanover. The sense of "community," which has become quite a buzzword on this campus throughout various controversies, really does exist and students for the most part respect the general rules of conduct that govern a community.
But an open door is just as open for a stranger as it is to a student. The security of any campus, even ours, is fragile, and for that reason also precious. We must protect it, even if that means by preventative measures. The College would not institute a locked door policy to prevent students from visiting other dorms, or because it thrills them to inconvenience us in new ways. They have our safety in mind and at heart.
