No one ever expects to be sexually assaulted or to have someone they love be sexually assaulted. Sometimes, it’s easier to dismiss the headlines in the paper as far-removed stories than it is to accept them as reality.
But after 26-year-old Oswald Scott Wilder, of Vernon, Mich., confessed to committing four sexual assaults this summer in East Lansing, the MSU community can’t afford to ignore reality.
As students are roaming the streets after a late study session or a night of drinking, it might be easier to dismiss screams, yells and sobs as nothing but drunken episodes. Often, that’s all they are.
Maybe that’s what one witness to Wilder’s reported final sexual assault thought. Maybe that’s why after the victim ran screaming to him for help, he did nothing but point her in the direction of the complex’s main office and head back to his apartment.
No matter the circumstance, that’s shameful.
Students who observe assaults or any other violent crime might not want to be involved. They might assume someone else will call police, or that police might not take their concerns seriously. They might be so shocked that they don’t think to alert authorities.
None of these are valid excuses. There is no valid excuse. It’s disgraceful to witness something as horrific as sexual assault and do nothing.
As Spartans and as human beings, it is our responsibility to be there for one another.
That means staying alert and having one another’s backs. Police cannot patrol every corner every hour of the day. Individuals need to step up.
There’s already enough stigma associated with victims of sexual assault. Don’t perpetuate that kind of thinking by ignoring terrified men and women who need someone to be there for them during what might be the worst, or the last, day of their life.
And don’t be lulled into complacency by delusional thoughts that Wilder’s victims are nothing more than characters in the paper. They are someone’s friends and family members.
Fifteen others reported forcible sex offenses on campus in 2011, and those were only the ones reported to MSU police. Not every person on campus has had a family member fall prey to assault and not everyone will experience it firsthand. That doesn’t mean we can ignore the issue.
Take sexual assault seriously. Walk with friends at night to make sure they get home OK. Don’t listen to headphones on the trek home at night.
Most importantly, call police if something seems not quite right. Even if it turns out to be nothing, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
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