On Tuesday April 20, around nine p.m., two girls, possibly West Chester students, were hit by a car in the crosswalk that is located between Wayne Hall and Killinger Hall. According to investigators, the driver of the offending vehicle stopped at the scene. I find it disturbing that the student body has yet to be formally informed of this incident by the University. Many students still do not know what happened, or who the involved students are. I think this is a major issue that affects the entire student body and university commuity. If two students are hit by a vehicle on campus, in a cross walk, I find it very irresponsible of those in charge to not inform the student body. I happened to be walking around that evening and saw the large group of students around the cross walk looking for answers with little success or result. The names of the two girls were not released and I have not been able to discover their identities yet. Many members of the Greek Community were worried that is was one of our sisters or brothers, due to it being Greek Week on campus. A girl from Delta Phi Epsilon wanted to know the names of the girls who got hit. Our newly elected Vice President of Student Government, Danielle Holtzman, responded to her by saying “it was nobody.” It was nobody? Two people just got hit and were seriously injured on campus in front of countless students, and it comes off as a non-event! What is wrong with this picture?
I was unaware that the events we are actually emailed about, such as robberies and assaults, are more important than public incidents of vehicular. The fact that the woman driving the car had no intent to harm the two girls should not make a differece in the perception of the severity of this incident, nor should it prevent the student body from getting the entire story. Awareness of this event might spark a student campaign for lights of a better sign near the crosswalk, which would increase safety for all.
All in all the University should inform us of exactly what happened, who was involved and what’s going to happen next. What is the point of WCU Alert if it isn’t actually used to inform students in a timely manner? As I continue my education here, I find more and more problems with upper management position holders and what they choose to see as important or worthy of recognition. We are college students, adults, and we have a right to know what happens in the community we have chosen to be a part of. I would encourage anyone with an issue to present it in a diplomatic way to someone who is in charge, someone who can fix the things on campus that need to be fixed.
Rebekah Balmer is a student at West Chester University majoring in Women and Gender studies. She can be reached at RB649636@wcupa.edu.