October 11, 2007 Issue                                       

©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

Bomb threats, sexual assault report disrupt calm at college
by JENNIFER KATZ

Students at Chestnut Hill College were told to evacuate after a bomb scare brought the school to a nervous standstill last week. Cora Mahon, 18, and Stuart Robinson, 18, both freshmen, were among the 300 to 400 students, faculty and staff waiting near the sports fields while campus security checked the buildings. (Photo by Erin Vertreace)

The quaint, hilltop campus of Chestnut Hill College was disrupted last week by a series of bomb threats and reports of a sexual assault that left students shaken and administrators searching for answers.

On Oct. 2, college security received a phone call around 3 p.m. from someone claiming to have placed a bomb in one of the buildings. Campus security officers evacuated the campus, moving approximately 350 students, faculty and staff to the baseball fields below the parking lot on lower campus.

According to students gathered at the field, security officers ran through the dorms pounding on doors and screaming to the students to get out of the building.

“It’s scary,” said Brittany Rieu, 19, a sophomore at the college. “They seemed serious about. It was clear it wasn’t a drill.”

Rieu and her friends said they had not been told what was going on but overheard people saying it was a bomb threat.

“I kinda wish they would tell us,” said Tina Danielle Swenor, 19, also a sophomore.

The Oct. 2 scare was followed by two more on Oct. 5, at 3 p.m. and 9 p.m.

Swenor said students were already on alert after reports of a sexual assault earlier in the month.

“I’m worried because of this [the bomb threat]) but also because of the sexual assault,” she said.

According to the students, notices were sent out to be careful after an unidentified male in the parking lot assaulted a female student in September.

Kathleen Spigelmyer, director of public relations, said the college was unaware of an attack on campus. Police records show that an 18-year-old female student filed a report claiming that she was victimized by a medic while being taken to the hospital.

On Sept. 10, emergency responders were called to the campus to treat a female who was intoxicated and vomiting. The young woman told police that when she was in the ambulance, a male medic maneuvered her hand to brush against his penis.

The medic was attempting to insert an IV into her arm. The procedure took several tries, each time the girl said her hand grazed his genital area. The police report does not allege that the medic was undressed at any point.

According to the special victims unit of the Philadelphia police department, there are no other reports of sexual assault at the college in September.

As for the bomb threats, Capt. Winton Singletary of the 14th district said he was informed that the college had narrowed its investigation to a former student and his family. According to Singletary, the student was expelled from the college earlier this year and college officials believed that he and/or one of his parents who were responsible for the threats.

Contact staff writer Jennifer Katz at 215-248-8804 or jenn@chestnuthilllocal.com.