An unidentified male groped a female Harvard University student Tuesday at approximately 5:40 p.m., in the eighth sexual assault case to strike the Harvard Square area since October and the second in less than a week, according to a community advisory on the Harvard University Police Department website.
HUPD spokesman Steven Catalano said he believes the case is unrelated to the other seven because the descriptions of the assailants have varied. In the last incident, a female Harvard undergraduate was groped in Harvard Yard around 9 p.m. Saturday.
In Tuesday’s incident, the student was groped by a white male in his early 20s while she was walking down Mt. Auburn Street, several hundred feet from a Harvard dormitory, according to the advisory. HUPD described the suspect as a 6-foot 6-inch “large,” male with dark eyes and light colored hair and wearing a dark gray jacket.
After assaulting the student, the suspect reportedly continued down Mt. Auburn Street and escaped before HUPD and Cambridge police officers arrived.
Although this case occurred within CPD jurisdiction, Catalano said both CPD and HUPD will investigate because of its proximity to the Harvard campus.
Catalano said there will be a “dramatic” increase in the number of both uniformed and plainclothes officers around the Harvard campus.
The assaults have put many Harvard students on edge, said Harvard freshman Gabrielle Gage.
“My roommates and I have been really wary of going out at night,” she said Wednesday night. “In fact, my roommate and I took one of the women’s self defense classes in November.”
Gage said the university has sent weekly emails to students with updates and advisories about the assaults. They asked students to “walk in groups on well-traveled streets” and report any suspicious occurrences.
Gage said she was “definitely” shaken by the frequency of the cases.
John Nolan, director of Transportation Services at Harvard, said the university’s escort service has received a record number of calls since the assaults began.
“We get a lot … more phone calls,” he said. “On an average day we pick up about 125 students. This past week it’s … in the 200s. Some of them are because of the weather, but this is more than normal winters.”
Nolan advised anxious students to take advantage of the university’s shuttle bus service that extends its hours to run 24 hours during the final examination period, which is currently underway.
“The vans are running 24 hours a day right now during reading period, but we do that every year for exams,” he said. “This service will continue at least until the end of the semester on Jan. 16.”
Nolan said Harvard administrators will be meeting in the coming weeks to discuss continuing the extended hours of the five-van service into February. If the 24-hour service is extended, it will be the first time in the school’s history, according to Nolan.
“One thing we are looking at is how long it takes to pick people up,” he said. “It usually takes about 20 minutes to go and get [students]. There has definitely been an increase in calls, but it has not been to a point where we would request other vans to come in. So far we have been able to handle the volume.”
CPD Public Information Officer Frank Pasquarello refused to comment on the incident.
