Students wrestle with shock of Quad assault

Saturday's reported attempted sexual assault in the Quadrangle has forced Penn students to deal with a range of psychological implications -- both individually and as a community.

Early Saturday morning, a female student was reportedly attacked by a man who had gained unauthorized access to the Quad. Thirty-year-old Jacob Leslie Dallas was arrested several minutes later in connection with the incident.

Deputy Director of Counseling and Psychological Services William Alexander described the current atmosphere among Penn students as a "mixture of fear, uncertainty, fragility, vulnerability mixed clearly with anger and frustration."

Alexander predicted that once students' perceptions of their environment is reconciled with the reality of their safety, the Penn community will rebound from its initial shock.

According to Alexander, this reconciliation only will occur with the help of the University in heightening security.

"The more the University's presence is felt, the better," Alexander said. "When students see visible signs of strong security happening, they will feel relieved."

The psychologist also stressed the importance of a community effort in dealing with the attempted assault.

"In any urban environment there is a sense of anonymity in crowds," Alexander said. He added that the question of "will our responsibility for each other grow is a tough call. It's the right of the individual versus the needs of the group."

Alexander said he is curious to see if the Penn community will in fact pull together in support of the victim and in an effort to prevent further assaults.

According to Ware College House Dean Katherine Lowe, students are coming together more than ever in the Quad.

"Today, I'm incredibly impressed with all my undergraduate residents," she said. "These students are pulling together as a community and being supportive."

Lowe organized a meeting for Ware College House students with Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush, the vice president of Allied Spectaguard and Special Services Director Patricia Brennan Saturday afternoon to address the concerns of her residents. Students used the opportunity to further inquire about the incident.

"It's wonderful how supportive students have been. Folks seem surprisingly on an even keel," Lowe commented.

Woodland College House Dean Jane Rogers noticed a similar response among her residents.

"I don't have any sense that people are frightened or panicked," she explained. "I don't think it's as much fear [as] just an awareness of what happened."

Rogers noted that most students she met with "seemed to be in a pretty good mood" and expressed interest in the details of the incident.

Rogers, along with other house staff, hopes to organize safety workshops at Woodland and encourage students to make use of the University Police's Rape Aggression Defense program.

Lowe emphasized the importance of the person who reported the alleged assailant's activities as suspicious and who was in fact responsible for alerting Penn Police.

"The challenge is to educate residents to trust that instinct that something just isn't right," Lowe said.

Penn Women's Center Director Elena Di Lapi also noted the importance of student vigilance along with the emotional support they can provide each other.

"The most important thing is not to get people isolated," Di Lapi said.

Di Lapi also advised students close to the victim not to tell her what to do to prevent another incident, but to ask how they can help and to listen to her.

Di Lapi warned that the assault may trigger particularly emotional memories for some victims of violence and date rape on campus, and that it may be difficult for students to come together as a community because of the nature of the incident.

"My hope is that it's people coming together and trying to watch out for each other," Di Lapi said.

Finding help

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.