COLLEGE PARK - Reacting to several "date rapes," about 250 students rallied yesterday at the University of Maryland, College Park to voice their alarm.
Student leaders say four sexual assaults have been reported to campus police since the fall semester began in late August - each involving victims who knew their assailants.
"The past few weeks have seen disgusting acts the campus cannot simply explain away," said James Bond, president of the Student Government Association. "When one student is assaulted, we are all victims."
University President C. D. Mote Jr., whose office was a co-sponsor of the rally, pledged to work with students on safety concerns. "We are very troubled by the fear that has gripped many of our students," Mote told students at the rally. "We'll do everything we can to turn this around."
Campus police say three rapes and a sexual assault were reported in September. Two of the alleged rapes involved the same woman and assailant on different days.
Overall, though, the number of reported sexual assaults on campus, including rapes, is down. Eight have been reported since Jan. 1, compared with nine for the same period last year.
"Date rape" - often involving alcohol or drug use - has been an issue on many college campuses around the country.
Mote said it is not enough to say that such incidents have long been a problem or that the number of them at UMCP is about the same as they have been in past years. "This is just assault, pure and simple, and we ought not to tolerate it as a society," he said.
Kenneth W. Krouse, chief of the university police department, told students that "one sex crime is one too many." He said he would like to see more students use campus security escorts in the evenings if they feel a need of them for protection.
Krouse said that cell phones programmed to ring 911 emergency dispatchers also are available for students.
Art Hall, a student who spoke at the rally, said the problem of sexual assaults by acquaintances is a difficult one to solve. "It's more of a social problem" that has to be addressed through education and knowledge, he said.
Sofia Lyford-Pike, 21, a senior majoring in neurobiology and one of the main organizers of the rally, said she was acquainted with two of the victims in the most recent incidents of sexual assault. "It's the first time there has been a big campuswide effort on this issue," she said. "We need to see if we can start changing attitudes and behavior."
