Walking to Take Back the Night

It's a few minutes past 11 p.m. on a Saturday night. The rain falls in torrents outside the Science Center, but Harvard students are still heading to and from locations throughout the campus.

Meanwhile, in Science Center 112, a group of students sit at desks awaiting a telephone call. David A. Bell '89, Liam T. A. Ford '91 and Christopher M. VanDyke '89 have volunteered to be the SafeStreets team for the evening. Tonight, it's their job to accompany anyone who calls 5-TROD or drops by looking for an escort anywhere on campus, excluding the Business School and destinations across the River.

SafeStreets, a student escort service, started up on March 6 under the leadership of Abigail N. Sosland '91. Sosland brought her idea to the Women's Alliance--which helped create the service--in the wake of the Science Center rape last December. The Undergraduate Council subsequently helped fund SafeStreets, as did the office of Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III. Sosland intended for the service to supplement the overburdened two-car University police escort program, she says.

"The old escort service is just not sufficient," says VanDyke, who is volunteering tonight for the second time since SafeStreets' inception. "With just two cars, they're often swamped with calls--not to mention that the cars can't go everywhere we can go on foot."

SafeStreets initially planned to base itself in Agassiz House--in the Radcliffe Quad--but then decided that location would be less efficient than the Science Center, which remains open 24 hours a day and is centrally located, group members say.

The seven-nights-per-week volunteer organization recruits by word of mouth, with students signing up for an 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. shift about once every two weeks. SafeStreets' current roster of volunteers now stands at about 130.

"Actually, SafeStreets used to operate from midnight to 6," says Bell. "The time was changed just last week because we find that at around 11, people start to want to come home from plays or concerts and that past 5 a.m., most people feel safe enough to walk alone.

Most SafeStreets volunteers comment that few of the callers are men. "There's definitely a lot of pride involved," says Dunster House SafeStreets recruiter Cornelia Tietke '91. Tietke added that to remedy the problem, the two foot escorts wearing reflective sashes carry an extra sash, for anyone who wishes to wear one and appear to be part of the service as they are escorted.

All SafeStreets volunteers have undergone training sessions at the police station, members say. "It's pretty low-key," says Bell. "We basically watch a filmstrip that discusses the smart and the stupid things to do and say if you are approached at night by potential attackers."

Tonight there is an unusually small group of volunteers. Normally six strong per night, the staff includes only five including a Crimson reporter and photographer. SafeStreets has trouble staffing itself on Saturday nights, when the need for the service is often greatest.

The University has told the service that it must operate on a buddy system, so that no students are ever made vulnerable by working alone. "If there is an odd number on any given night we either send someone home or try to get another volunteer, because you need groups of two to escort as well as two people here at home base at all times," says Bell.

Because of the difficulty inherent in recruiting people to volunteer late-night hours, Sosland says she hopes that SafeStreets may evolve into an organization that can afford to pay its workers.

"We've been worrying that interest will die down. After doing a six-hour shift in the middle of the night, a lot of people become unhappy at the effects it has on their schedule," says Sosland. "If we can prove to Dean Epps that there is a definite need for our service, SafeStreets will hopefully become a work-study program."

11:15 p.m.--VanDyke and Bell read newspapers while Ford unlocks a small beige filing cabinet in a corner of the office. Within the drawers are SafeStreets' treasures: a cellular telephone, two beepers, the reflective sashes, two flashlights and a log book.

"Pretty neat, huh?," says VanDyke, as he explains how the equipment is used. "We have the [sashes] as well as SafeStreets' identification so that the person waiting for us can easily recognize us. Each escort pair gets one beeper so that home base can give us our next assignment while we're out walking someone else. And, the particulars about each assignment go in the log book--you know, time of call, whereabouts of caller, destination, escorters' names, etc."

11:30 p.m.--It's a quiet night. Bell decides to go downstairs to play Continuum on the Science Center computers. He takes a beeper with him. The phone sits quietly on the floor under the harsh light of a flickering flourescent.

"If we had more people and the weather wasn't so bad, we'd send an escort pair out walking," says VanDyke. "If a call came in, we would give them a beep and they'd call us back."

11:45 p.m.--Ford, supervisor for the night, reads from an enormous government sourcebook. SafeStreets encourages people to work the same nights, so they get to know their night's regular supervisor. One of 12 supervisors, Ford usually works Mondays, but is covering for a friend on this Saturday night. All volunteers must find their own replacements if they are unable to work on a night for which they have signed up.

12:10 a.m.--VanDyke, using his jacket as a pillow, tries to fall asleep on the floor. Usually someone brings a radio, members say, but things were rushed this evening.

12:15 a.m.--Three people stop by the classroom-turned-office. Staffers eagerly ask if they need an escort. But they don't--they are merely dropping by to see if a friend of theirs, a Saturday night regular, is working. He's not.

12:20 a.m.--Bell returns from downstairs. He had switched video games--from Continuum to Dark Castle. "Addictive stuff," he says. Bell and VanDyke decide to leave the office on a quest for food, making sure to carry a beeper with them.

SafeStreets spends an average of $5 nightly to purchase snacks and drinks for the team. The money comes from a fund created by the grants from the council and Epps' office, which currently totals $1130 and is controlled by Sosland. SafeStreets volunteers who purchase food for the night are reimbursed, and the fund has also financed the initial purchase of equipment, telephone bills and publicity.

12:45 a.m.--The five students in the office sit on the floor, drinking Coke from paper cups and eating a raspberry danish twist. The talk turns to the house system and concentrations. There have been no calls, but members say this is a peculiarly slow night.

"A significant portion of our work comes from people staying up late in the Science Center to work on computers or to study," says Bell. "But even then, we average about four to six calls on weekdays and a little more on weekends, mostly from women. That average excludes the first two weeks of operation when virtual nobody knew about us."

12:50 a.m.--A call! VanDyke and Bell quickly don their raincoats and shoes as Ford takes the message. Turns out to be a false alarm: the student meant to call the car escort. The raincoats and shoes come off.

1:00 a.m.--The SafeStreets volunteers are keeping busy. By using the computer terminal in the corner of the room, they've managed to contact students on terminals at Stanford. They'll converse on-screen with about four different people in the course of the shift. The three-hour time difference makes California an ideal location to contact at 4 a.m.

1:30 a.m.--Natalie A. Angstreich '89 visits the office and asks for to be escorted to Mather. She had been at the Science Center reading.

"I've used SafeStreets several times since it started. Recent incidents have made me determined not to walk through the Yard alone," says Angstreich.

2:00 a.m.--VanDyke and Bell return. Computerized conversations with Stanford students resume.

2:55 a.m.--A call comes in from the Loeb Theater. Someone at the theater needs an escort to Cabot. This time it is Van Dyke and Ford who head out into the rain. The pavement is littered with worms, around which the pair tries to maneuver.

The streets are virtually empty save for a few groups of people probably heading home from parties. By now, the puddles have become minilakes that are still not easily seen in the shadows. Everyone's shoes are soaked through. A neon bank sign flashes "41 degrees."

3:10 a.m.--Arrival at the Loeb. Ford and VanDyke bang on the door. Three cast members of "Death of Santiago" cautiously let the two in once they see the SafeStreets reflective sashes. Apparrently, the caller has decided to go it alone but the escorts search both sides of the theater anyway. Mission aborted. The escorts head back into the rain.

When asked if SafeStreets plans to operate in the snow, VanDyke replies, "Unless not enough people show up to work the shift, yes. At least I hope so. We've only had to close down once, on April 9, because there just weren't enough volunteers to operate."

3:25 a.m.--On the way back the pair decides to detour at Store 24 to buy another two-liter bottle of Coke and a Hostess doughnut 12-pack.

3:45 a.m.--The doughnuts have been eaten. Umbrellas now drip in the classroom's corner as the vigil continues. A jar of instant Maxwell House coffee and a plastic teapot sit untouched on the floor.

"I'd much rather be out escorting," says Bell. "But even if no one calls, I think our presence is important. If people want to walk home, we're there for them."

4:00 a.m.--By now, staffers intermittently stare at the clock. The earlier conversations have largely died down. During the lull, VanDyke reflects on the object of all this waiting.

"I really can't give any other reason for why SafeStreets volunteers decide to put themselves through this once every two weeks except that they care," says VanDyke. "We're not a high-pressure, structured group, there are no mandatory meetings or things like that. Volunteers come and sign up because they think SafeStreets is important."

4:20 a.m.--A Harvard security guard finishing up his shift stops in to say "goodnight."

"The story behind the phone is kinda funny," says VanDyke, resuming discussion. "When we first started Harvard gave us a brand new phone, but it didn't work very well..."

"Yeah, whenever someone called, they'd fade out in a minute and we'd have to say `Hurry up! Quick, tell us where you are!'" adds Bell. "Obviously, we needed a new phone. So someone subscribed to Time Magazine and got a free phone. It works much better."

4:55 a.m.--Time to clean up. Ford logs out--presumably without much to say after this unusually quiet night--and locks everything back up in the filing cabinet as the other volunteers put the room in order. The light in Room 112 goes out for the night.