by Vonne Slayden
This past Thursday, a student was struck in the back of the head by a passerby on Beall Avenue. This is just one of the multiple notable incidents of violence against students that have occurred on Beall Avenue in just the past two years. This issue is especially pertinent for students of color with the 2021 Black Manifesto including in its demands “accountability from the College to work with the Wooster Police Department for legislation that provides adequate protection against hate crimes and hate speech on Beall Avenue.” Additionally, many students have anecdotally spoken of misogynistic harassment, such as catcalling, on Beall Avenue from passing cars and just last year, multiple students were shot with a BB gun.
Beall Avenue is the main street of campus. All students will have to walk along or across this street at some point: whether to get to Lowry, the Wellness Center, the libraries or other buildings. These issues have persisted on Beall for years: with the earliest online Viewpoint source citing 2011, with implications of a longer ongoing trend — with these issues actively decreasing the safety that students are able to feel on campus.
While there have been multiple installations of more security cameras over the years, and the banning of at least one community member from Beall Avenue within the past two years due to repeated violent incidents, the issue persists, and many students are hoping or looking for ways to combat it.
I believe that we have opportunities to do something. In hopes of addressing this, a local social justice organization called the Wayne County Racial Justice Coalition (probably known to most as the group who organized and held the daily racial justice protests at the downtown Wooster Public Square for a few years) is hoping to, with the input and collaboration of students, discuss potentially holding a weekly protest on Beall Avenue to bring more attention to the issue. To raise awareness for this cause and solicit more student input and collaboration, we have organized a survey that can be found at the below QR code. This survey asks students about their experiences on Beall Avenue and their thoughts on such a protest (for example, safety concerns and its efficacy).
As discussed at the beginning of the article, many incidents that have happened to students on Beall Avenue can be triggering. Please feel free to refrain from the survey if you are concerned about it triggering you.
