Despite Binghamton University’s measures to ensure safety at its newly opened Downtown Center, some students, staff and parents are still worried.

Concern rose after a female student was assaulted and robbed last week as she walked to her car after an evening class. Students, however, say they had been worried about safety months before the incident on the South Washington Street Bridge, which is about 600 feet from the center.

The $29 million BU Downtown Center, which opened this fall, houses the University’s College of Community and Public Affairs. Seven hundred seventy-five BU students are enrolled in at least one class there.

‘The attack on the student, for undergraduates, really heightened that they were really right to be concerned,’ said Sue Crowley, chair of the department of human development, who has heard the students’ concerns directly and through peer advisers.

For parking, students have the option of purchasing a $40-per-semester permit at the Water Street Ramp, located approximately three blocks away from the Center. The permit ‘ which is separate from the $71 parking permit for the University’s Vestal campus ‘ puts the students in what they feel is unsafe territory, Crowley said. Faculty can park in two lots adjacent to the Center.

The garage ‘ which is owned by a private company, not the University ‘ is also ‘excessively inconvenient,’ said senior human development major Jenna Grisar. ‘Pretty much anywhere you can park is closer than the Boscov’s ramp.’

Consequently, students have been searching for closer and cheaper locations.

‘I park near where the student was robbed,’ said Jeremiah Lake, a senior human development major.

To get to the Water Street Ramp and the nearby Collier Street parking garage, students can use the Downtown Center’s escorts, who provide service weekdays from 7:30 to 11:30 p.m. Classes, however, run all day.

‘Why shouldn’t escorts be provided from sunset on?’ said the father of a junior in enrolled the CCPA.

And according to students, the escort service isn’t well advertised.

‘I’ve never seen one,’ said senior human development Nicole Murphy said.

‘When the security guards at the desk are asked for an escort service,’ the parent said, ‘They have no idea what the students are referring to.’

For Murphy, waiting for a ‘bodyguard’ to take her from school to her car is inconvenient and unconventional.

‘You shouldn’t need a security guard to have to take you to your car to go school,’ Murphy said. ‘Not this school, anyway.’

The building, which has 24/7 security, has key-card access for students, faculty and staff, and visitors are required to register at the security desk. And while a sign at the entrance prompts incoming students to have their IDs ready, students said they can walk in without having to show ID.

‘I carry a book and the security guard bussed the door, and I walked in with just a nod,’ said Lake. ‘No questions, no ID check, no anything.’

The University encourages students to use the bus to and from campus whenever possible. Some students, however, find this problematic, especially when off-campus students take classes at both the Vestal campus and the Downtown Center but park their car on campus. The student who was assaulted last week lives in Cortland.

The Downtown Center, which is home to the CCPA, allows the faculty, staff and students affiliated with its programs to be close to the agencies and organizations in the Binghamton area. But the location frightens some students.

‘Even walking 100 feet to my car can be scary,’ Grisar said.

‘It’s a bad area,’ Murphy agreed.

But officials of the City of Binghamton disagree.

Downtown Binghamton is ‘generally not a high-crime area,’ said Detective Captain Alex Minor of Binghamton Police.

According to Sergeant Whalan of the crime prevention unit of Binghamton Police department, the area, which is quiet and well lit, is ‘very safe.’

‘We haven’t really had many problems there for over several years,’ said Sergeant Whalen, whose daughter takes classes at the Downtown Center and parks at the Water Street Ramp.

‘As a parent, I’m not concerned,’ he said.

According to Minor, last week’s robbery didn’t seem to be targeted at students. The teenagers likely attacked the 42-year-old female simply because she was walking by herself on the bridge.

‘We have no reason to believe this was anything other than an isolated incident,’ said Binghamton Mayor Matt Ryan, who added that the city has nevertheless been working with campus officials and has made some immediate changes to enhance safety around the center.

Student began expressing their fears months before the attack.

‘When I realized that this attack happened I was concerned about how it was going to resonate with students based on the fears they had expressed in the past,’ Crowley said.

According to Crowley, undergraduate students of the human development department prompted Dean Patricia Ingraham to hold a forum to discuss concerns. The University was keeping students ‘out of the loop’ when it came to planning the for the Downtown Center, Murphy said. Students were left in the dark about issues of transportation, parking and safety until the meeting. They originally found out about the move through rumors.

But the forum still left questions unanswered. The University didn’t inform the students about parking until the summer.

Crowley said communication between students and administrators is essential when making decisions about campus changes.

‘The campus is nothing without the students,’ Murphy said.

In a letter to students outlining safety precautions, Dean Ingraham wrote, ‘As with any urban center, extra precautions and attentiveness to your surroundings are always a good idea.’

But Murphy is distraught with the dean’s words.

‘No one going to Binghamton signed up to go to an urban campus,’ Murphy said.