The first week of freshman year is an exciting time for any starry-eyed 18-year-old. I spent my first few days on campus running door-to-door meeting floormates, exploring Berkeley’s gorgeous campus, sampling some of the fine restaurants in the area and experiencing the night life of campus. A few days after arriving at Berkeley I was walking back from campus to the residence halls with some friends when we heard, “Hey! Do you like soda?” It was clear the question was aimed at our group, but the majority of the group kept walking normally, as if I alone could hear this man’s inquiry. The car from which the sound came slowly rolled down the street keeping pace with us. Some of the group exchanged glances around me, as if they had some shared experience that I had not been a part of. How could that be? We had all just met a few days ago. The engine next to us revved and the car began to speed off as the men inside cackled, “Well you should ’cause you so damn fine!”

What I had just witnessed was a phenomenon known as catcalling. When we got back to our floor I expressed my shock. As an avid Tumblr user, I know that catcalling is an issue in America, but I had never witnessed it, especially not in my own backyard. Some of the friends I was with told me it was no big deal and happened fairly often. These people — our classmates — live their lives expecting a certain amount of disrespect simply walking down the street, and that’s not okay. While this conversation about catcalling was happening, I noticed a friend with a small, pink canister. I had never seen it before in real life so I had to ask and confirm my suspicions: it was indeed pepper spray. My friends brought pepper spray to Berkeley because they believed they would be unsafe, and recent events have shown their fears are not unjustified.

Within the first week of residence halls move-in day, the Daily Cal has written four articles about the robberies of both UC Berkeley students and members of the Berkeley community. On Saturday, two students were robbed just outside my own home, Unit 2. Robberies are starting to become a nearly daily occurrence and constant threat for UC Berkeley students, who are beginning to feel unsafe on a campus that prides itself on creating a safe space for all. The UC Berkeley administration needs to enhance the safety for students — students that work alongside Nobel prize-winning faculty doing groundbreaking research. It needs to make sure its students — students that are actively fighting inequality within our community and the world at large — can walk home at night without the fear of being stopped at gunpoint. They need to take action for the students — the people that help make UC Berkeley one of the best institutions in the world.

UC Berkeley does offer some night safety services. It has BearWalk, a nightly safety service where a community service officer will walk you home at any time between dusk and 3 a.m., a night safety shuttle and a door-to-door service that operates after the other two services end at 3 a.m. But the problem of crime has become so prevalent around campus that I would feel unsafe walking from the bus stop to my residence hall. Additionally, the community here at UC Berkeley should not be one where these services are a necessity. It should not be a place where pepper spray is on the packing list.

Johns Hopkins University, a school notorious for being in a dangerous area of Baltimore, has been experiencing increasing numbers of assaults throughout the past few years. In response to this problem, the university has increased police manpower and camera coverage in high crime areas to help keep its students safe. Comparatively, the UC Berkeley administration has taken little action, particularly regarding the recent attacks. The administration has not even sent an email to students in an attempt to comfort us when our friends and classmates are being robbed.

While stopping catcalling may be impossible, creating a campus space where students feel safe walking home from a late night class is doable, and an initiative the Berkeley administration should prioritize. We need to follow in the footsteps of efforts like those undertaken at Johns Hopkins and increase police presence on and around campus, especially in high traffic areas at night. No one on this campus wants to hear a future Nobel Laureate say, “I didn’t go to Berkeley because it was too dangerous.” The UC Berkeley administration needs to take action so hopefully next year’s incoming class can feel safe leaving the pepper spray at home.

Samson Mataraso is a UC Berkeley freshman studying bioengineering.

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