As a new semester starts and as students flock to campus, safety concerns begin to rise. An incident that has been posted to the Instagram account @watchoutphilly has put female Temple students on high alert both on and off campus.
The post explains how an unnamed female Temple student was walking on Norris Street between Charles Library and the J&H dorms when a male non-Temple student began to harass her.
She claims that he was catcalling her and “saying gross things to me”. She says that she then turned around and flipped him off, which provoked him to start chasing after her while yelling, screaming, and threatening her. He then got in a white van and began driving after her while continuing to yell, scream, and threaten her out of his window.
This is not an isolated incident. Many other female students in the comment section of the post are sharing similar experiences they have had on and off campus.
One student has commented “I got catcalled by a man driving a car last Wednesday around the same location on Norris st on my way to a performance. if I had to run I would not have been able to. this is a CONSTANT thing amongst female students at Temple. we are so tired.”
Junior Kate Bresnahan says that she doesn’t, “necessarily feel safe on campus all the time, especially at night.”
Even with the active police presence on campus, along with transportation systems like Flight and the campus escorts, female students are still feeling uneasy. Katie emphasizes how even with these systems, she usually just has her guy friends walk her back to her apartment.
Female students are being encouraged to make adjustments to their travels, especially at night. They are also being urged to use the TUMobile app, or to report incidents through the non-emergency line at 215-204-2357. Additional emergency contact information can be found on the campus safety services website.
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