Some members of the Connecticut College community may be aware of the arrest that was made early last Sunday morning after a man — unconnected with Connecticut College — sexually assaulted several young women at a Cro dance. Others may not have known about the incident since it was not widely publicized save for a brief article on the Voice website.
The man in question, later identified by New London police as Julian Quintero, 21, of Groton, had affiliations with the U.S Navy, but lied and told Campus Safety officers he was a member of the Coast Guard Academy. CGA police arrived on the scene only to discover that the offender was not a cadet at the school. New London police were called and after interviewing the victims, left with Quintero who spent the night in jail. He has been charged with second-degree breach of peace and fourth-degree sexual assault. Campus Safety officers were praised for their quick and effective response to the incident.
While the culprit was caught, the questions we should be asking are why was he here in the first place, and how we can prevent another incident like this from happening at the next Cro dance.
Students at Conn are aware of our lax security system compared to other colleges and universities. Connecticut College is an “open campus,” meaning we allow people to visit and attend lectures, performances, seminars and shows that are open to the public. We don’t become a gated community until 10 PM each night when the gates go up; at that point, the only entrance to the school is the main entrance where “all vehicles are checked by Campus Safety officers, and only those who have a legitimate need to be on campus are granted access,” said Stewart Smith, Director of Campus Safety.
But what about people who enter campus on foot?
It might not be possible to drive on to campus after 10 PM, but people can certainly walk on to school grounds by the admissions building or by the Benham Road entrance near College House. While Campus Safety officers constantly patrol the campus and question any suspicious person, they rely on information from the community to help them catch and escort out any person who does not belong on campus. And on a Saturday night, how can you know who is on campus legitimately (as a guest of a student, for example) and who just walked on campus to crash a Cro dance? No one is going to alert Campus Safety if they see a person that doesn’t look familiar on a Saturday night, unless said mysterious person is doing something suspicious or illegal, which is exactly what happened the night of Quintero’s arrest.
Things got a little too wild at the Jungle Dance when Quintero began touching female students inappropriately and unwarrantedly, leading a couple of them to seek out Campus Safety officers. When Quintero offered to leave and then made a run for it, the officers caught up with and tackled him to the ground. Officer Smith credits this quick action to a new shift plan instituted four years ago, in which extra officers are on duty during “heavy activity nights,” like Saturdays. I think the extra staffing plan is effective and necessary, since more incidents are likely to occur on party nights when alcohol is thrown into the mix. But I believe that Quintero shouldn’t have been on campus in the first place.
I’m aware that sexual assault incidents do happen on campus from members of our own community so that this isn’t just a problem of strangers on campus partying with us on Saturday nights. I also recognize the efforts of programs like Think S.A.F.E. and Green Dot, as well as resources provided by Darcie Folsom, Campus Safety and counseling services; we are fortunate to have these sources available to help us. Still, there is something creepy and unsettling about the fact that a 21-year-old man from Groton can walk on to campus, attend a Cro dance and be so intoxicated that he goes around and fondles students before trying to run away. Perhaps Conn should take a hint from other colleges that require visiting guests to register with a student before being granted access to campus. We have this system in place after 10 PM each night, but maybe it needs to be a 24/7 security measure. Am I saying that we should eliminate our open-door policy at Conn? No, but I do believe that we should be open to having a dialogue about security measures and about preventing incidents like this from happening again. No one wants to find themselves in any kind of uncomfortable or dangerous situation, especially in a place that they consider safe.
Dear Melanie,
I understand your concern with security on campus, and with the fact that students in general are at risk in Conn a lot of times, probably sometimes more in the weekends. I really want to contest, however, your alarmist point of view regarding the necessity to increase security on campus. I think that this approach might be even worse for the future of this situation, or not what is actually necessary or best.
First of all, I know there a lot of programs in Conn that say that anything done to you without consent, is an assault. I know that the definition of “sexual assault” is any sexual act done to you without your consent, but it is precisely this what I find dangerously ambiguous. I am sorry to say it -mainly if I hurt the feelings of some green dots -that I cannot be more in disagreement with this black and white view of things. It always impresses me the lack of reflection put into the use of the word “sexual assault”. If you were to say that in Latin America for example, you would instantly think that these girls were beaten, taken to a dark alley, brutally raped, and almost left to die. Your usage of the term leaves many questions open, that again, I think are highly important to define the grays of the situation. I am not excusing people who take advantage over others, but I do not think that defining everything as a matter of “fully-conscious perpetrator versus helpless victim” is particularly accurate.
Second of all, life is full of dangers. This sounds like a fairly large and bizarre comment to make, but I think this idea escapes the minds of liberal arts college’s students who, for the most part, have been raised in an upper-middle class utopia -in a suburban environment most likely- where the myth or idea of private safety is highly cherished. But how many places in the world do you think that actually have that partial reality? If you go and live in NY, Bogotá, Paris, etc. you will find that there is not really a private security person you can blame for the insecurity in the streets. Or would you blame the state? But is the solution to put more cops in the streets, and put more people in jail?
How wonderful would it be if there was no insecurity! But insecurity is not just about “bad people” wanting to do “bad things”, it’s the result of profound structural problems, in which we are all embedded and complicit, that perpetuate inequalities through our actions. I don’t know until what point is a 21 year old, in a party setting, trying to hook up with anyone, a “bad person”. For example, if we put more cops in conn, increase security, and judge every person we find guilty, is that enough to eliminate this structural differences? Wouldn’t becoming more isolated and more enclosed as a community, precisely perpetuate the image that New London has of us, and therefore enhancing the conditions for insecurity to happen? I know you mention that within Conn’s bubble, there are still dangers. But precisely this myth of the all-providing conn bubble, which is not real as you mention, but which some people believe, makes us think that we are entitled to be separated and exempt from the world’s realities. What type of education is that? But I don’t think anyone from conn will be able to live all their lives locked up in this sort of environment.
So what is best? To isolate ourselves even more, creating a security complex around campus? What type of message would that give out to the community we are -actually we are not -part of? That we, the rich kids uphill do not want ANYBODY to cross our private property?
Lastly, I do not think that a paternalistic ad protectionist approach will solve this problem. I really do not want to imply that there are cases in which there IS rape, sexual harassment, and other violations, in which, because of the way our society is structured, women can be more vulnerable to abuses. However, I do not think that your mention of this case in a relatively ambiguos way, gives you enough ground to ask for more protection, security, and all the things this implies, which I mentioned before. I don’t think that the only thing we lack is more security, or more private guardians walking around. If you have ever been to a club, I bet you haven’t called the police every time a 21 year old has looked at you in a sexual way. And I bet most conn students have also looked at someone in a sexual way at some point in a bar, in a party. So, being alarmed by the lack of security is not even as important as being alarmed for the lack of social responsibility, lack of collective security -us taking care of each other -, agency and self-awareness of our students. I do not mean to say that the school shouldn’t guarantee its students that they can be safe, but I do not think that only protecting is the best answer.
Thanks for your concern though. We both agree there is a problem, but I find the causes of it in a very different place than security or conn’s ability to protect us.
Hi Juan Pablo,
My name is Meredith, the Editor in Chief of the paper. Would you like to write a letter to the editor on this subject, to be published in print?
Email me at eic@thecollegevoice.org.
Thanks!