Whatever! What the hell are people expecting to find on the streets of ANY large city at 2:30 AM? More half-wits just like them!
That’s on the college campus, and it’s welcome back week. Kids have been arriving — all the freshmen moved in over the weekend, and classes don’t start until thursday, so there are welcome back parties, and I’m sure a lot of the kids are getting back together with their friends and running around. 3am is pretty late at night, and the kids are all warned not to go out after midnight.
The school also has a free escort service if you have to go anywhere. They will send an officer to walk you home, and can even give you rides from off-campus after dark. They are very aware of this.
Unfortunately, VCU is in a big city, and that city has had increasing problems with this type of violence. The mayor and police chief are part of the problem, apparently. But the school includes a lot of kids from families who are unaware of big-city life, and also won’t tolerate this type of violence, and the school knows that and knows it has to do better or it will lose good students and their money.
The place where the attacks happened is on the edge of campus, and there is construction on that first street corner, which means a fence around that property. They just finished a new dorm/apartment complex for students on that block (the first assault was on the street corner near the entrance). That’s my daughter’s apartment. The buildings are very secure — you need a student ID to get through the front door, and there is 24-hour security at the entrance. All guests have to be escorted as well.
Still, my daughter is probably a little shook up right now — we talked about the violence, she had the lectures, but to have a mob attack right outside your dorm on your second day away from home isn’t helpful — we live in a place we can walk at midnight and our only worry is waking someone’s dog and causing a barking riot.