Photo courtesy of Zoe Pellegrino.
While cheering Conn’s men’s soccer team on to their victory on Nov. 6th, students across Freeman Green and all over Conn’s campus pulled out their phones and opened their laptops to an email from Campus Safety reporting on a Title IX violation. “An individual was photographed without consent while showering in Katherine Blunt House. Connecticut College does not tolerate any actions that invade individual privacy, and such behavior is completely unacceptable. It is prohibited by our College policy on sexual harassment, and is a crime under Connecticut State law,” wrote Mary Savage, Director of Campus Safety and Emergency Operations. This is now an ongoing investigation with the New London Police Department.
This is not Connecticut College’s first brush with this form of sexual harassment and voyeurism. On Oct 26, 2018, the class of 2022 received their first Title IX bulletin from Campus Safety, where Savage informed students of a similar incident. Several months ensued with multiple such privacy violations, where many students were afraid to shower, afraid of these communal spaces. These incidents, including this semester’s, are horrifying and inexcusable. No student should be afraid of having their right to privacy violated in such a way. Solutions that the College offered, and notably that did not work, involved restricting student access to residence halls that were not their own and the addition of privacy shower curtains in shower stalls in Plant House.
In order to protect students, Campus Safety plans to begin patrolling Katherine Blunt House, and intends to take on more frequent patrols of all residence halls on campus. “We also have initiated conversations with the Student Government Association about additional steps that will build on previous work to improve bathroom privacy,” Mary Savage’s email read.
KB residents were invited to a meeting on Nov. 6 by Associate Director of REAL, Lil Carrasquillo-Vasquez and Director of SVPA, Rachel Stewart in the Larrabee Common room to answer questions and have a shared space.
“I can’t believe this is happening again. I don’t think patrols by Campus Safety are going to do anything, they can’t be there all the time and they would likely only make students feel more uncomfortable. It’s insane that this has happened so many times in 4 years, without the college ever implementing any genuinely helpful changes,” stated Zoe Pellegrino ‘22, when asked for her thoughts on Campus Safety’s email.
Liz Nanavati ‘23 is frustrated with dealing with such events over and over. “Honestly, I am quite frustrated with the fact that this happens every year. Even freshmen year I used to look around when I entered the shower stall to make sure that I was safe, and it is extremely concerning that this is still an issue two years later. The school has had this happen every single year and, though they send out emails and contact the police, they have not taken the steps to try to resolve it. They could ensure that all of the locks properly close, raise the height of the stalls so that no one can possibly see in, and just update the bathrooms in general. There needs to be an emphasis placed on education of those on campus through more than just an email afterwards or a 30 minute lecture during the chaos of orientation. It cannot be swept under the rug anymore.”
Critiques that circulated previously regarding how the College handled such incidents in the 2018-2019 academic year referenced the lack of transparency in who was involved in the decision-making process surrounding these cases and how little information students received.
Students launched a campaign titled “Take Back Our Showers,” which demanded transparency, information, and student involvement in solving this issue on campus. Notably, Savage’s email this week included a mention of the Student Government Association. SGA was unavailable for comment.
Students who have any information on the sexual misconduct situation should speak to the Dean of Equity and Compliance Programs/Title IX Coordinator Ebony Manning or to Savage. Students are also able to share information anonymously through a link sent out by Savage.
