Updated 04/22/2009 07:07 PM
SUNY Potsdam Police investigate sexual assault on campus
POTSDAM, N.Y. -- Saturday morning, a female student living in the Knowles South residence hall reported to University Police that she had been sexually assaulted in her room the previous day.
"The victim came forward and was helpful in providing us as much information as she had to university police so that we could begin an investigation," said SSUNY Potsdam University Police Chief Gary Bean.
Then the University sent out an alert to the campus.
"We always want to let our campus community know what's going on especially if there's any kind of incident that there might still be some threat or danger out there," said Deidre Kelly, SUNY Potsdam Public Affairs.
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SUNY Potsdam practices standard safety measures on a regular basis and has key-card access residence halls and emergency phones positioned all around campus. But now, it's taking more precautions to make the campus secure.
"We post warnings on doors, or alerts on doors to residence hall buildings and campus buildings to let people know what's going on and what they should look out for," Kelly said.
"University Police and resident life staff have increased their patrols of our residential facilities, we've also talked with our residential life staff to talk to their residents about the need for personal safety awareness, personal security,” Bean said.
Students say they were surprised to hear something like this could happen on their campus and the incident is a reminder that you need to be careful no matter where you are.
"I think the females on campus are a little more worried, but I think that might not be a bad thing, women should be aware of the possibilities of danger on campus and take precautions to put themselves in a safe situation," said Mike Curbelo, a SUNY Potsdam student.
"Even just going to the shower at night or just walking on campus, you need to be with someone else," said Molly Lehman-Lewis, another SUNY Potsdam student.
SUNY Potsdam wants students and the community to know it’s dedicated to campus safety and will do everything it can to make it secure.
SUNY Potsdam had less than 10 sexual assaults reported on campus per year from 2005 to 2007 and officials hope increased awareness will keep that number down in the future.