University of Virginia Library

Easters Dangers

Easters Weekend, or week if you prefer, is
now almost upon us with all of the traditional
revelry and activities for which it has become
famous. The warm spring weather and the
pastoral setting of leafy Charlottesville provide
the background for events that will
become fantastic and humorous stories for
years to come.

There are a few notes of caution that must
be sounded before the dates arrive and the
parties begin. In the past few years there have
been increasing problems with assaults on
students and their dates by people outside the
University community. We fear that with the
large influx of people to Charlottesville for
the festivities there will be, as usual, a number
of undesirables who will attempt to take
advantage physically and financially of the
spirited atmosphere.

First of all after a big weekend there are
numerous reports of thefts in both fraternity
houses and dormitories. We urge members of
fraternities to keep a close watch for strangers
wandering around the upstairs living area of
their respective houses. Also first-year men
would be wise to keep their dormitory rooms
locked while they are attending the weekend
activities.

An even more serious problem during the
weekend has been the increasing number of
assaults on University students and their
dates. We urge students to avoid dimly lit
areas that are adjacent to the party centers as
these have been the most notorious spots in
the past.

At all lengths students should avoid the
despicable University practice of "dumping
their dates." Oftentimes these girls will
wander about the Grounds unescorted and
could be in grave danger, believe it or not, of
being assaulted. To preach any sobriety on
Easters may be totally hopeless, but we do
feel that ultimately the condition of his date
is the responsibility of the student, drunk or
not.

These recommendations to the student to
exercise caution will not eradicate the
problem of assaults, however. What is needed
is more adequate police coverage around the
party areas to discourage any potential
attackers. Since the Charlottesville police
force has enough trouble with the locals on
weekends, they can only afford to employ a
skeleton squad of men to patrol the
University surroundings. The Department of
Security claims that they just cannot spare
very many men to patrol due to financial
necessities. It is interesting to note that
Security can find enough men to ticket almost
every car that even drives near a prohibited
parking space.

In an effort to remove some of the slack in
police protection during big weekends the
Inter-Fraternity Council is studying a number
of safety proposals, according to IFC
President Ted Foote. Tonight representatives
from each fraternity are scheduled to vote on
whether each house is willing to spend
between twelve and fifteen dollars each party
weekend for some added police protection.
The IFC would then approach several private
security organizations to find the most
comprehensive protection coverage and resubmit
the proposal to the representatives for
final approval.

We urge the representatives of the
fraternities to vote for this essential expenditure.
Although the protection will not be the
best possible and it is certainly expensive, we
believe that the situation calls for immediate
and strong action by the fraternity system.

The ultimate responsibility for the safety
of students and their dates while they stroll
around the University community lies with
the Department of Security, but until they
feel constrained to expand their scanty
coverage we think that it is the duty of the
fraternities to make an effort to protect their
members and others who attend their parties
from brutal assaults and petty thievery.

Finally we hope that all students as
individuals will exercise caution and good
sense during the upcoming spring weekend
and thereby avoid an unfortunate and perhaps
avoidable tragedy.