If you don't know, I am an RA as well as a desk worker in Gries Hall. Over the weekend, tons of incidents occurred in the freshmen dominated hall. Lots and LOTS of intoxicated people as I'm sure you can imagine.
But one incident left a bad taste in my mouth.
While working the desk at 2 a.m., a guy came up to me and informed me that he was just punched in the face by some guy. I asked him what happened and he told me that some girl was sitting on his lap and they were taking pictures together when the girl's ex-boyfriend walked in and punched him out of his chair. So immediately, I call DPS to report an assault. After I got off the phone with them, the guy who had assaulted the other person walked in and started threatening this guy. He was saying things like, "come find me on the 4th floor, Pussy." (You know, typical macho man stuff, because he was such a hard ass) So, I saw first-hand how hostile this guy was.
When DPS brought the assaulter down, the first thing I saw was them all joking and laughing together. I was confused. Then, while listening in on the mediation, I heard the DPS officer saying things like, "this girl set you guys up" and "this girl shouldn't be allowed back on campus!" (the girl was in high school) When it was all said and done, the two guys "bro hugged" and went on their merry way.
The next day the DPS officer came back in for some follow-up information. When I told him I was aware of the situation, he said to me, "So, you know it was all a girl's fault then? She straight played them." I said, "Well, I think the real issue is the fact that one person physically assaulted another person, and nobody deserves to be treated that way." To that he responded, "Yeah, men just get like that sometimes. It is really difficult not to do things like that when you're feeling jealous about a woman."
So moral of the story: women are sneaky creatures. We just wait around hoping to provoke the next man to walk by, and men are helpless when it comes to us. Women create such a stir in men that they can't possibly control themselves enough to not punch someone. Kind of like when a woman is passed out drunk and a man has no control over the need to have sex with her. You can't blame a man for crazy we make them.
I hope you're as grossed out by this situation as I was.
Kirsten, while reading your blog post, I almost thought that you were lying simply because this is one of the most repulsive things I have ever heard occur on this campus. It honestly terrifies me to think that these are the people we have "protecting" students on campus.
ReplyDeleteIgnore this if you already have a project going on, but I think you could make an extremely powerful activism project about this issue on campus. As someone that used to work the desk in Gries, I never faced an issue to that degree. But to give my own story, I once called DPS because a man kept walking in and out of the building and circling it. He had no affiliation with SLU. When I called DPS and gave a nearly accurate description of the man, it took the officer about 45 minutes to get there. He asked where the man went and I responded, "Towards the cafeteria...about 45 minutes ago." To that, he responded, "Oh, that must be the homeless man we have gotten multiple complaints about over the past week."
...What? If you have gotten so many complaints about him, why would you not come immediately when I gave a description of him? Was my phone call not a big enough "emergency" for you to handle?
The DPS officers are supposed to protect the entire student body, not just stand up for "the guys" and turn the girls into victims! I think you have possibly started a phenomenal project or at least have provided incentive for one.
I completely agree with Kirstin! These major issues with DPS need to be brought to the ears of everyone on SLU's campus. I am shocked and disgusted about what happened Kirsten at Gries Hall, and how the whole situation was handled. One thing that really irritated me was the way that these men could 'bro-hug' towards the belittlement of a woman. Sometimes when I see men getting in fights, and then making up because they turn against the woman I think: "don't you have mothers or sisters?" By turning against the woman they keep the oppressive nature of our social system alive. They shouldn't fight each other, but join to keep women down.
ReplyDeleteTo add: why are our DPS officers not focusing on the real issues right now? Is there not enough funding for them on campus? Instead of standing at the Grand crosswalk and blowing whistles, their energies need to be put into more important matters.