Students respond to stabbing at Regis

Students housed at Regis College this semester awoke last Friday, Sept. 24 to an e-mail from Wellesley College Campus Police stating that an incident occurred nearby their dormitory during the night. A fight broke out at about 4:30 a.m. between two Regis guests in the parking lot near the Regis Student Center, where the Wellesley-Regis shuttle stop is located. One person was fatally stabbed, and the other suffered severe injuries and was hospitalized.

The Regis campus received a deluge of reporters and camera crew from early to mid-morning. Classes were cancelled on Friday, police officers were stationed at each dormitory and crisis counselors were called onto campus to assist students in need. The Middlesex district attorney's office released the identity of the victim on the same day as 18 year-old Elhaji Malick Ndiaye of Waltham, according to The Boston Globe. There have been no arrests, but Regis College Police, Town of Weston Police and Massachusetts State Police are investigating the crime, and preliminary reports suggest that the assault was not a random attack.

While no Wellesley students were involved in the incident, College Campus Police have since taken measures to ensure their safety. Before Friday's incident, students had to walk past the location of the crime daily from Domitilla Hall, where they occupy the third floor, to the Wellesley-Regis shuttle stop. The shuttle stop has been permanently relocated right outside of Domitilla Hall. Wellesley College Police are also assisting in residence hall security at Regis.

While they are reminded by authorities that this incident could have happened anywhere, Wellesley students are not comforted by this thought. "There is usually a rowdy crowd at night near the Student Center. Late at night, I feel cautious walking back to my dorm. Even with the added security, I do not feel as safe as I would at Wellesley," Dasam Choe '11 said. "You cannot leave your doors open, or your laptops out, you are always cautious about your surroundings, especially on the weekends when people are not sober and hanging around in large crowds in the parking lot that we have to cross to get to Domitilla."

Some students noted that the campus culture at the college could have been a link to the occurrence of the crime. "I feel that this would not happen if they did not have ‘Thirsty Thursdays,' a night when they have free alcohol available for those over 21," Kat Bloomfield '12 said. Previously, students noticed another altercation take place outside of their windows. The first scheduled LSU party on Regis campus involved a brawl, in which several police cars appeared on campus shortly afterwards.

Students also feel that they are not getting compensated for the fees they pay for housing to Wellesley. It has been stated that neither the standard of living nor community life at Regis College compares to Wellesley. Tina Sowah '11 mentioned that she chose an all-women's institution for its safe and closed campus. "Regis does not provide the same environment," she said. "[I am]...20 years of age, at a school my parents pay thousands of dollars a year to attend, a stabbing happens only a couple hundred yards away from where I am housed."

As only upperclasswomen have been placed at Regis, seniors have many aspects of Wellesley to compare with their new surroundings. "At Wellesley, we have a sense of community and security because we have basically spent the past four years with the people around us, whereas at Regis, we are thrown into a new campus with new faces. We are intruding on their space, and that breeds tension, and we can feel it," Choe said.