In high-traffic places such as college campuses, it is difficult to monitor all of the people who go in and out of facilities each day. While many people have legitimate reasons for venturing onto a college campus, whether it be to take a tour, attend an event or just enjoy the scenery, other people
have less pure motives.
Last week, an incident occurred on the second floor of the library that opened the eyes of many to the potential dangers that lurk in even the places that seem the most safe.
According to a statement released via Capital’s Safety Bulletin, a man identified as Lonnie Sturdivant, 54, was apprehended on the upper floor of Blackmore Library near the CELT area. After further investigation, it has been found that Sturdivant is a person of interest in two recent sexual assaults.
Sturdivant had been in the library for an extended period of time before anyone became suspicious of his presence there. Sophomore Diana Crandall, a CELT tutor, said there wasn’t anything about him that signaled a red flag in her mind.
“[Sturdivant] didn’t look suspicious, and that’s the scary part…I would have never looked twice at him if the police didn’t show up,” Crandall said.
The incident wasn’t the first time Sturdivant was seen on campus. There are reports of Sturdivant being sighted multiple times wandering the grounds with no definite purpose. His presence in the library was nothing out of the ordinary to students like Crandall.
Obviously his actions alarmed some, and Public Safety was called in to handle the situation. The officers arrived quickly and kept the situation discreet. They approached Sturdivant and questioned him about being a student, which he honestly replied that he was not. After asking him to leave, they informed him that he was not allowed to be present on Capital’s campus anytime in the future.
So how did Sturdivant make his way onto Capital’s campus and into Blackmore library?
“It’s actually fairly easy,” said professor and CELT Director Bruce Epps, “The library is very open and is even open to the general public to some extent. I don’t know if that is something everyone is aware of. We don’t have any security procedure that requires students to show their IDs at the entrance so it’s relatively easy for anyone to walk in off the street.”
As alarming as the event may seem, it is not the first time Capital has been faced with such an occurrence. Being an open campus with close ties to the community and its people, Capital is unfortunately a moderately easy target for crime.
“Situations like this aren’t regular occurrences, but definitely aren’t unheard of,” Epps said.
There have been a number of different crimes on campus lately, such as break-ins at the Commons, a robbery in Cotterman and physical assaults on a student in front of Saylor-Ackerman.
Administrators encourage students to remain aware of their surroundings and to report any suspicious activity to Public Safety.
Many have ideas on how Capital might be able to improve their security in an attempt to eradicate any further security issues.
“I believe that there could be more patrols on campus,” Epps said, “When the CELT center was located in a different building, we had someone constantly patrolling the halls to make sure everything was in order.
“It would mean hiring more staff, figuring out hours, and finding the money to pay them, but we don’t want to have to build a 12-foot fence and require three forms of identification just to enter the grounds. We want to maintain an open atmosphere with the community,” Epps said.
Students are encouraged to contact Public Safety at 236-6666 if they see a suspicious person.
