Domestic Violence on College Campuses

When students head off to college each year, they leave their homes and move into dorms that are supposed to offer them a safe place to transition from their parents’ protective custody to a little utopia of 16-24 year old students who are monitored by resident assistants and preceptors or faculty who reside in the dorms. So why did Lauren McCluskey die from a gunshot wound on the University of Utah’s campus earlier this year?

McCluskey had dated an abusive and controlling man for a month, and then broke off the relationship when she learned that he had pled guilty of sexual assault of a teenage girl and was out on parole. The 37-year old man harassed her, peeked through her windows, attempted to extort money, and impersonated a police officer. McCluskey had reported all of this to the campus police months before her death but they didn’t recognize the possible dangers. The campus police and the state did not communicate, and there were a series of errors in reporting his parole/probation status.

College women (and some men and same-sex partners) are at high risk of dating violence. They are new to negotiating and experimenting in relationships, and they often don’t know what resources are available to them. Both counseling and police departments need better training so they can set up safe houses and protocol so that all students have safe places to go to when they feel threatened. If your children are heading off to college this fall, check with the counseling and police departments to learn about programs available for students, and share this information with your children.

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