A George Washington University student was attacked in a classroom on Feb. 20, which raised concerns about campus safety at GW and AU.
According to the Hatchet, GW's newspaper, the victim of the attack was a female sophomore. She described her attacker as a 6-foot, 250- to 300-pound man and told the Hatchet he approached her while she was alone in GW's Academic Center building around 9 a.m.
The student, who asked the Hatchet to not use her name because of safety concerns, said she initially thought her attacker worked in the building.
The student told the Hatchet that the attacker grabbed her neck and pushed her against a wall. He let go when she pushed back and ran out of the room calling for help.
The university could not disclose or verify much information related to the case because of an ongoing investigation, Tracy Schario, a GW spokesperson, said in a phone interview. She said a young woman was assaulted in the Academic Center, which is located at the university's Foggy Bottom campus in northwest.
The attack, which was unusual because it occurred in the morning, is prompting discussion about campus safety at District-area universities.
Molly Curtis, a sophomore in GW's School of Media and Public Affairs, said the incident has not surprised students because they are used to "lax security" at the university.
"Living in the city, you have to expect things like this will happen but we are so used to strange people all over our campus," Curtis said. "I had a class on the first floor of the Academic Center last semester and homeless people would bang on the windows and scream things at the professor."
Marianne Jonsson, a second-year graduate student in the School of International Service, had not heard of the incident but expressed doubt that it could occur here.
"I guess [a similar assault on AU's campus] is possible but it's not likely," Jonsson said.
Such an incident is unlikely to happen at AU because GW's campus is divided among several blocks while AU's campus is compact, she said.
AU Public Safety Chief Michael McNair also said he thought a similar incident would not likely occur at AU.
"We have an actual campus area and George Washington has a group of buildings on city streets," McNair said in an e-mail. "This prevents them from being able to [stop] undesirable and suspicious persons from entering their campus without stationing an officer at each door."
As far as Public Safety knows, nothing similar to the GW classroom assault has occurred at AU, McNair said in an e-mail. However, he said Public Safety does take measures through routine patrols and by providing walking escorts to students upon request. Access controls, where students have to use their identification cards to enter buildings, are used to protect unoccupied buildings and cameras are being installed in areas where students report feeling unsafe.
"It's completely safe. Absolutely safe," said Nathan Piccioto, a sophomore in the Kogod School of Business, of AU's campus.
McNair explained that if something did happen at AU, Public Safety would announce the incident quickly.
"Whenever such incidences occur, we immediately post notices to students, staff and faculty detailing the incident and asking them to take care and be aware of their surroundings," McNair said in the e-mail.
Another possible discrepancy at GW is that the university did not notify students of the attack.
NBC 4's Web site said GW's orange emergency fliers were nowhere to be seen. Schario said by the time the news crew arrived they had been taken down. The university posts orange fliers for a "high" alert and yellow fliers for an "elevated" alert at various places and in buildings around campus when such an event happens.
However, Curtis said she was not aware of the incident until The Hatchet reported it.
