Dartmouth College is so squeamish about guns that they are refusing to let a stalking victim have an exception to carry a gun on their precious “gun-free zone” campus.
Right now, Taylor Woolrich is safe because her stalker is currently in jail for violating the restraining order she had on him. This was not a domestic violence case – this is a scarily obsessed stalker.
Woolrich was 16 years old and working in a San Diego café when she says a man came in to buy coffee and then kept returning throughout the day, staring at her for long periods of time and trying to flirt with her. The man, 67-year-old Richard Bennett, kept this up for days, she says, even sitting outside the store for an entire day and then following her home, demanding that she talk to him and saying he was “trying to protect her.”
She filed a restraining order, but it did little to keep Bennett away. Woolrich says he constantly harassed her during her first two years at Dartmouth, stalking her on social media and sending messages in which he “promised” to fly across the country to see her at college.
“I thought they were empty threats, but when I came home from school last summer, he was at my front door within eight hours of my plane landing,” she said. “That’s when I realized how serious it was.”
Woolrich and her family called the police, and Bennett was arrested. A search of his car uncovered a slip noose, a knife, gloves and other items.
If convicted of felony stalking and the violation of the restraining order, Bennett could spend up to four years in prison. However, because he could make bail, Taylor Woolrich looked into protecting herself and not just waiting for her stalker to show up on her doorstep again. Dartmouth College, however, would rather take the risk and let her be a victim instead.
But Dartmouth administrators told her she was “absolutely not” allowed to carry a weapon on campus. She says she tried to plead her case and was told to speak with several campus officials, all of whom provided little to no help.
“There’s no option. There’s no one to go to. They don’t want to hear my case,” she said.
Woolrich says Dartmouth’s Department of Safety and Security told her that instead of carrying a gun, she should call campus security and arrange for an escort if she felt unsafe after dark. But she says she was often asked to justify her requests when she called, and security officers gave her a hard time for calling often.
“What they don’t understand is that it’s not enough,” she says. “Stalkers just don’t only show up after dark. Unless they have an armed guard in front of my dorm room, I’m not sure how safe I will be. I don’t think there’s much an unarmed guard can do.”
Dartmouth officials declined to comment on Woolrich’s situation, but they said their strict weapons policy is necessary.
No, their strict weapons policy is a coward’s line to make themselves feel better about “keeping students safe.” We all know that crazy stalkers always obey the laws, especially those restraining orders that were supposed to keep them away in the first place.
How many times have women been told to simply call for help if the bad guys come to the door? The always-reliable gun grabbers at Everytown for Gun Safety tried recently to convince people to #SaveWomensLives with what was possibly the best advertisement EVER for buying a gun for self-defense.
Restraining orders are a necessary part of the legal system. But they are not a bulletproof shield. And college campuses have been the site of violent crimes even WITH those “gun-free zone” policies. Take all of the school shootings that make the news out of the equation – here is one case, from my own alma mater, where a restraining order and a gun-free zone meant that Rebecca Griego was a defenseless victim on the day her ex-boyfriend decided to break the law.
On the morning of Monday, April 2, 2007, the deranged ex-boyfriend of University of Washington employee Rebecca Jane Griego (1981-2007) kills her at the UW’s Gould Hall before fatally shooting himself. Griego, a Colorado native who had been working at the UW since her undergraduate graduation in 2004, had warned colleagues about her attacker and had petitioned for a protection order in King County Superior Court. But Jonathan Rowan (1966-2007) — who had a warrant for an ongoing drunken driving case, who was wanted for questioning in a Seattle theft investigation, and who for years had eluded immigration officials with an expired 90-day visa — could not be located before the shooting.
From what we know, Rebecca Griego never attempted to get permission from the University of Washington to arm herself at work, or even arm herself at home. But groups like Everytown for Gun Safety constantly push the idea that calling the police to come and defend you in an emergency. But as they showed in their own ad, the police are not fairies or State Farm agents that magically appear when you call for help. Any responsible and logical person realizes that.
Taylor Woolrich does not want to be the next Rebecca Griego, and has already stated that if her stalker gets out, she will leave school. Dartmouth doesn’t care that she will leave school in order to protect herself. So long as their precious politically correct sensibilities are not offended by someone who sought to follow the law and protect herself, they don’t care. And they won’t care until someone ends up dying because they insisted that their “gun-free zone” policy was more important than a human life.
Ranba Ral says: “And they won’t care until someone ends up dying because they insisted that their “gun-free zone” policy was more important than a human life.”
They won’t really care then. It’ll just be proof, to them, that their gun-free zone policy is correct, and start expanding it to things like images of guns. After all, if we can all be as naive as the Eloi, it doesn’t really matter if the Morlocks eat us or not.
Deanna Fisher says: Great comment, and +10 for the Time Machine reference. 🙂
Jodi says: I don’t need permission to defend myself, if ya know what I mean.
wfjag says: Dartmouth is the place where, last Spring, students occupied the President’s office and presented their “Freedom Budget”, as to which the administration caved (“caved” is my interpretation; the Dartmouth represented that it was “taking steps” to address the students’ concerns for “transformative justice”). The Freedom Budget’s items included hiring more racial minorities and “womyn” as faculty, implementing more gender-neutral housing and bathroom options, banning the term “illegal immigrant,” evaluating the Greek system’s role in sexual assault, and harsher punishments for those who commit sexual violence. Dartmouth agreed to spend over $30 Million addressing some of the demands of the “Freedom Budget”. So, clearly the Dartmouth administration understands the idea of making “reasonable accommodations” to its students’ needs, and spending the big bucks to do so.
However, it appears that Ms. Woolrich fails to understand the concept of “reasonable accommodations”. She’s asked to be allowed to carry her own protection, and been denied. Her request was much too limited (and clearly, too cheap to meet). Rather, she needs to adopt the wimpiest, helpless, damsel-in-distress mode (and, since she and/or parents are paying $50 to $60K per year for the honor of attending the college which was the inspiration for the movie Animal House), she certainly is within her rights to insist that Dartmouth deliver her money’s worth (and treat her with equal dignity in light of the response to the Freedom Budget demands).
For example, she has to worry about being attacked while going to/from class, and to meals, and to place of residence, and on dates and social events (and wherever college students go to and from — Dartmouth is really lost in the woods, so I’d expect that involves periodic trips to Boston, Toronto and NYC for civilization re-familiarization — and so she needs a personal vehicle (of suitable size and luxury) and driver, and body guards to accompany her at all times. Of course, no possibility of harassment should be allowed (to further damage her already impaired psyche), so she requires both male and female escort and protection at all times. Then, there’s parking. Preferred parking, say 2 or 3 spaces reserved in Faculty Parking Spaces (since she has to keep the stalker guessing as to where she’ll park) nearest each of her classes, and dining hall and residence, and social establishments (and a few other locations, so the stalker can’t really be sure of her schedule and routine). Of course, counseling for the damage to her emotions from the trauma caused by the stalker, as well as extra time for tests, papers, homework, as well as recreational activities. There’s also empowerment therapy — making her feel safe and in control. She’s already identified that using firearms reduces her anxiety (and so her request). So, Dartmouth must furnish membership (and transport to/from with the escorts) in an appropriate sports club where she can receive training and practice firing — and pay for the ammo and her firearms. (We are a 3 -gun nation — pistol, rifle and shotgun, so she needs to become proficient in each as part of her therapy). I’m not certain where the nearest appropriate shooting club would be, but probably Boston is a good bet. And, school work, classes, assignments, tests, etc., cannot interfere with her therapy — so, rescheduling to meet her schedule is required. Further, Dartmouth is in the middle of the woods — where hunters, in season, in surrounding areas disturb her emotions when she hears gun shots (reminding her of her helplessness by being disarmed on Dartmouth. So, Dartmouth will have to purchase the easements from all of the surrounding property owners of their hunting rights, so she is not disturbed by the sounds of rounds fired at unknown distances by unknown persons at unknown targets.
This is only a partial list. However, as a victim, she’s entitled to reasonable accommodations — and Dartmouth is required to deliver and pay for them. (And, then we’ll see what other people come forward with their own requests for reasonable accommodations). It is blatant, sexist discrimination to not respond to her needs after agreeing to the demands of the Freedom Budget.
Xavier says: Screw the rules. S&W 642 .38+P w/Crimson Trace Lasergrips.
If that were my daughter, I’d be in jail.
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