Assault, robbery near Brandon University shakes community: student union president
'Students don't feel safe' on campus, want security improvements after Saturday attack, says Charles Adamu
After a woman was assaulted and robbed near Brandon University Saturday, some students and faculty say they no longer feel safe on campus.
Two unidentified men randomly attacked a woman on the 1800 block of Louise Street, less than a block from the Brandon University campus, just before 11 p.m. Saturday, according to Brandon police. No one has been arrested in the robbery.
Charles Adamu, president of the Brandon University Students' Union, confirmed the person attacked was a university student.
Now, some others at the southwestern Manitoba university are wondering if it's safe to be on campus late at night, especially if they have to walk home, he said.
"Students don't feel safe," said Adamu, and they want to see more active security patrols.
"We need security that's well trained, well educated to patrol" the campus, he said.
Brandon University president David Docherty said the university is doubling its security to ensure there are at least two members on campus 24/7 — something that was already in the works before the attack.
It's also putting out a tender for an independent safety audit of the campus next week.
Brandon University students who live in residence were first on scene helping the victim of Saturday's attack, said Docherty.
"This is an incredibly traumatic event for the victim, the victim's family, the friends ... but also for every student in residence," Docherty said.
"This is their home for ... at least eight months of the year. And they have to feel safe in their own home."
The university's critical incident team met Sunday, after the incident, and Brandon U is doing what it can to rebuild a sense of safety and security on campus, he said.
Brandon Police Service Chief Tyler Bates said the investigation into the assault is in the early stages, and police are asking any witness to provide any information they can.
"When it's random against somebody that's just in the vicinity of Brandon University ... it's certainly concerning," Bates said.
Calling for better security
Gautam Srivastava, president of the Brandon University Faculty Association, says staff and students have been calling for security changes for months. He's been documenting incidents since June 2023, which he says include drug use, a violent altercation, trespassers after hours and an air pistol found in a bathroom on campus.
"Those issues, even though they may not have affected someone personally … everyone hears about that stuff," Srivastava said. "Everyone's aware that there are security concerns."
Faculty want to see the safety audit of the campus done as soon as possible, especially because the last one occurred a decade ago, he said. At the end of October, the faculty association passed a motion calling on administration to conduct the audit in a timely fashion.
The university needs to take action soon, Srivastava said, because everyone on campus is preparing for the end of the semester. Many students will be taking or studying for tests in the evening, not far from where the attack occurred, he said.
Seeing increased security patrols would be a first step in bringing a sense of safety back, said Srivastava.
"It's all a trust issue, right? Once you break that trust and safety and security, getting it back is a process," he said. "We just need more action … more real steps to make people feel better about being on campus."
The Brandon attack comes after recent incidents at other Manitoba universities, including the assault of a woman in her University of Manitoba residence room by an intruder last month.
Srivastava says faculty from Brandon University, and from the universities of Manitoba, St. Boniface and Winnipeg, will meet along with the Manitoba Organization of Faculty Associations on Friday to discuss safety and security on their campuses.
A march is also planned Friday morning at Brandon University to highlight safety concerns.
Adamu said the students' union also released a safety survey Thursday to find out what students want to see happen and how they are feeling.
He says it will take more than doubling security to help students feel safe again, and he hopes the safety audit will begin as soon as possible, so the university can identify and address any security gaps.
"Administration really needs to put their foot on the pedal on this one, because students are not happy," Adamu said.
"We want answers. We want to feel like we are being briefed of what's going on … and we just don't want anything that's cloak and daggerish around the situation."
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