Cornell Sun by Michael Johns, Jr. 2/26/2020
Ten years ago this October, the Student Assembly unanimously approved a resolution formally requesting changes to a University policy that prohibits individuals from carrying pepper spray, a nonlethal chemical commonly used for self-defense, on campus. It was a moment of contention between the S.A. and the administration that many Cornellians today would find familiar — despite support throughout the student body, the University ultimately declined to implement its sensible and actionable suggestions for reform. As students formally begin their campaigns for the S.A. this week, they should consider revisiting this popular and important proposition.
The fall 2010 pepper spray resolution initially was introduced as a response to Cornell Police’s 2009 crime statistics, which listed “four reported forcible sexual incidents,†according to The Sun. That statistic is, unfortunately, but a fraction of the number of attacks reported by the most recent annual report. The Cornell Police’s 2018 crime statistics list 16 on-campus reports of rape, 24 reports of fondling and 23 reports of stalking in that year alone. In the footnotes, Cornell Police also note 48 reports of forcible sexual incidents in which “no location was provided or could otherwise be identified,†and an additional 36 reports of unspecified sexual assault in 2018. Although these statistics, by law, include some claims that Cornell Police have concluded are unfounded, the problem of on-campus sexual assault clearly has worsened. Campus security is a persistent challenge, and the University should be pursuing all available options to make Cornell safer. Indications are that many helpful reforms are being examined except, perhaps, the most obvious and sensible one: permitting students some reasonable form of self-defense against such assaults.
The time has come to address this. Ray Mensah ’11, then executive vice president of the student assembly and sponsor of the 2010 pepper spray resolution, rightly noted at the time that in light of these crimes, students should have the option of carrying pepper spray on campus to “add an extra layer of protection against†sexual and other crimes. Then Cornell Police chief Kathy Zoner — though she and the University opposed the resolution — acknowledged the obvious: “if properly used and deployed,†pepper spray can be “very effective†against potential assailants.
More:
https://cornellsun.com/2020/02/26/johns-let-cornellians-carry-pepper-spray/
