Update Wednesday, November 18 at 12:25 a.m.:
A female student reported that she was grabbed from behind at 8 p.m. on Tuesday night while walking alone near the Union Street end of Potter Street, according to emails sent to students by Director of Safety and Security Randy Nichols.
The student was uninjured and quickly ran to a College House. She was not able to identify the suspect. Bowdoin Security and the Brunswick Police Department responded and are conducting an investigation.
In response, students have created a Facebook group to coordinate a walking buddies and rides around campus. As of publishing, Bowdoin Safe Walk had 1,353 members and numerous posts from students offering walks and rides.
This story is developing and will updated as more information becomes available.
Update Monday, November 16 at 8:20 p.m.:
The Brunswick Police Department (BPD) has released a sketch of a "person of interest" in last week's reported sexual assault. The BPD is unsure if the individual was involved in the assault, but they are trying to identify him because he was seen loitering near the Mayflower Apartments around 7:30 p.m. the night of the reported assault.
The person of interest is described as a white male in his late 20s with a slender build between 5-foot-10 and 6 feet. Anyone with information should contact the BPD.
Director of Safety and Security Randy Nichols also announced today in a campus-wide email that the student parking policy would be changed until further notice. Students can now park registered vehicles on campus behind the Union, in the Coffin Street Lot and at college houses beginning at 3 p.m.
The change was made "in light of recent security concerns, combined with the time change and earlier seasonal onset of darkness," according to the email from Nichols.
Original article, published November 13:
At 10:40 p.m. Tuesday night, a female student living in Mayflower Apartments called 911 and reported that she was sexually assaulted when an unknown assailant entered her apartment through an unlocked door, according to Director of Safety and Security Randy Nichols. The Brunswick Police Department (BPD) responded and notified Bowdoin Safety and Security at 10:49 p.m.
The assailant has not been identified, and it is unclear at this time if the assailant was a student or affiliated with the College. Commander of Support Services Mark Waltz with the BPD did say, however, that the initial report made the assailant appear older than a Bowdoin student.
“If the reported age was accurate, he’s probably older than a Bowdoin student would be,” said Waltz.
The BPD is in the process of investigating the reported assault with assistance from Bowdoin Safety and Security.
“I would say probably next week or so, we’ll have run out of anyone we could possibly talk to,” said Waltz. “But other than that, it depends on what kind of leads there are. If there aren’t a lot of leads, there may not be a lot more that can be done until something changes.”
Mayflower Apartments are campus housing located on Belmont St. The student who reported the assault was examined and treated at Mid Coast Hospital.
Zoe Borenstein ’18 lives in Mayflower Apartments.
“It’s a lot of emotional stuff to process,” she said.
According to Borenstein, police asked her roommates if they had heard or seen anything unusual when they were at the complex on Tuesday night. The officers did not give them any other information.
“Cops were congregating and talking about things, and apparently everyone else was pressed against the windows watching, and they didn’t know anything,” she said. “Some people came out and asked the police officers what was going on, and they just said ‘It’s not your concern’... they told us ‘You’re not in danger,’ but that just seemed totally unfounded.”
Borenstein said that residents of Mayflower were not given any additional information until Nichols emailed the entire student body at noon on Wednesday.
Nichols confirmed in an email to the Orient that Mayflower residents were not given information until the campus email was sent out.
“Throughout most of the night until 4:30 a.m., Brunswick Police and/or Bowdoin Security were present at Mayflower, and it was determined that no students were in danger at the complex,” he wrote. “Rather than issue incomplete information, we thought it best to let the entire community know what happened at once as soon as we could.”
Nichols met with the residents of Mayflower on Wednesday night, according to Borenstein. She said that people were unhappy that they hadn’t been given information earlier.
“I was pretty impressed by how persistent people were,” Borenstein said. “People grilled him and were like, ‘We should have gotten notified before the rest of campus.’”
According to Dean of Student Affairs Tim Foster, the College is accommodating Mayflower residents who request temporary or permanent changes in housing. As of Wednesday night, seven students had made that request and been relocated.
Foster, Nichols and Associate Director of Safety and Security David Profit have met with the BPD to discuss the investigation and plans for improving safety on campus.
“The College has already made changes to the lighting at Mayflower,” said Nichols in an email to the Orient. “These lights will now be on permanently between dusk and dawn and will not be able to be turned off by individual residents, which was the case previously. The College has also checked the windows and doors at Mayflower and is encouraging students, faculty, and staff to report any issues with other doors or windows.”
Both the BPD and Bowdoin Security will increase patrols on and near campus. The College will take steps to provide additional Bowdoin Shuttle service for students who want a ride, according to a email sent from Nichols to students Wednesday evening. Brunswick Taxi will also be free of charge Friday and Saturday from 10 p.m. to 1:30 a.m.
Safety and Security conducted an evaluation of the lighting on campus on Thursday night and will perform security assessments of other campus buildings.
Since the start of the academic year, multiple incidents involving an unknown man looking through windows have been reported to Security and the BPD. On September 21, a student reported an unknown man looking into windows on the second floor fire escape of Smith House at 10:15 p.m. On September 29, a student walking on Potter St. saw a hooded man attempting to open the window of her off-campus house on Potter St. On October 7, students living off-campus on School St. reported an unknown man peering into their windows at 1 a.m. On November 3, a female student at an off campus house reported an unknown man taking pictures of her through the bedroom window. No suspect was ever located in any of the incidents.
On Tuesday night around 7 p.m., residents of a Harpswell Apartment reported to Bowdoin Security that a figure was looking through their window. No suspect was located.
Because none of the suspects have been identified, the BPD and Bowdoin Security have not been able to establish a link between any of the incidents or between past incidents and the recent reported assault.
“We have no reason to know either way,” said Waltz.