SAN MARCOS, CA. (THECOUNT) — Four sexual assaults reported during the first three weeks of the fall semester at California State University San Marcos have prompted increased security measures and growing concern among students at the San Diego County campus, while the university has also issued a flyer about responding to sexual assault featuring a smiling cartoon cat.
California Post first reported on the incidents and the concerns being raised by students. The four reports were made Sept. 5, 6, 13 and 18 at The Quad, University Village Apartments and Black Oak Hall, all student-housing locations at CSUSM.
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University spokesperson Jerry McCormick said the four incidents are separate cases and are not believed to be connected. He said the people involved in each case knew or were acquainted with one another. The cases remain under investigation.
The reports occurred during the period commonly known as the “Red Zone,” referring to the opening weeks of the fall semester when the risk of sexual violence on college campuses is elevated. CSUSM said it provides consent and sexual-violence prevention education before students arrive and continues those efforts throughout the academic year.
But some students say those efforts have not gone far enough.
Megan Chavez, 25, a literature and writing student at CSUSM, told the California Post that she first encountered the term “Red Zone” while completing the university’s mandatory Title IX training. Chavez described the training as glitchy and difficult to navigate.
“Everything around keeping students safe and everything around teaching consent, affirmative consent and preventing sexual violence, it just feels super disorganized,” Chavez told the California Post.
Chavez also took issue with a university flyer titled, “How do I help someone involved in a sexual assault incident?” The flyer features a cartoon cat, which Chavez said was an inappropriate presentation for such a serious subject.
The reports have left some students questioning how safe they are while moving around campus, particularly at night.
Nohemi Escano, 18, told the California Post that she has two classes ending at about 8 p.m. and said she does not feel safe walking around campus after dark.
“I feel like if this is how we’re starting the year, this will eventually escalate to something worse,” Escano told the publication. “After that, what comes next? Possible murder, possible kidnapping. It scales. It goes through levels, and that doesn’t make me feel safe. In fact, I have two 8 p.m. classes. I don’t feel safe.”
A separate sexual assault was reported Sept. 21 after a person said someone allegedly broke into a dorm room, according to the California Post. That report came days after the four earlier incidents and added to concerns about security in campus housing.
CSUSM President Ellen Neufeldt has since addressed students about the reports, saying the university was “doubling down” on efforts to prevent and respond to sexual violence.
The university announced increased police patrols, overnight security in residential communities and 24-hour front-desk staffing and guest registration at North Commons and Black Oak Hall.
CSUSM has also emphasized that responsibility for sexual violence rests with the person who commits it and that students should not be expected to bear sole responsibility for preventing an assault.
Escano said students should be able to participate in ordinary college life without having their safety questioned based on whether they were drinking or otherwise not sober.
“It’s important to notice and to highlight that we as students have the right to have fun, to not be sober, and still be safe,” Escano told the California Post. “I’m tired of hearing people say, ‘Well, maybe they were drunk, maybe they were high, maybe they were not sober. People have the right to have fun and be safe.’”
CSUSM, which has about 17,000 students, is located in San Marcos in northern San Diego County, approximately 35 miles north of downtown San Diego and near the communities of Escondido, Vista and Carlsbad.
Google Maps: California State University San Marcos
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