Progress on Safety

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. And when you fail, keep trying. And if you still fail, then think of it as an opportunity to keep trying some more.

That’s the lesson to be gleaned from the battle to install emergency call boxes on Cambridge Common. Outcry for brighter lighting and blue-light phones on the historic Common began nearly 11 months ago, after the first of a string of 12 sexual assaults that occurred around campus last fall and winter. Many of the assaults occurred on dimly-lit and highly-frequented routes. Last October, a Harvard undergraduate was allegedly groped around 8:30 p.m. in the Common, which is a popular route to and from the Quad.

Although the installation will occur in November—over a year after that attack—it is better late than never. The discussion over emergency phones encountered roadblock after roadblock due largely to funding concerns and apprehensions concerning the historical preservation of the Common—the site where George Washington took command of the Continental Army in 1775.

But the reality is—as last year’s assaults demonstrated—the city of Cambridge is not as safe as it appears, and the Harvard campus is not an island oasis of safety. The University and the area community are inextricably linked and intertwined. It is the responsibility of both to take action to protect students and residents whenever possible. We’re positive that George Washington wouldn’t mind—even if the blue lights are historically inappropriate.

The cooperation between Harvard and the city to make the Common safer is also heartening—a positive example of working together to benefit both students and residents. After all, several Cambridge residents were among those assaulted during last year’s attacks. These call-boxes are an improvement for the entire community, and the $12,000 the University is contributing to make the phones possible is a small price to pay for public safety. If only Harvard’s town-gown relations were always so productive.

Harvard and Cambridge have together taken a commendable step. With any luck this agreement will lead to more cooperation between the two historically divided camps. Expanding call-box coverage to other off-campus areas well-traveled by students—such as St. Paul’s Church between Mt. Auburn Street and Arrow Street, which was the site of another assault last year—should be a priority. As the saying goes, we are better safe than sorry.