Cliffie Rape Starts Rumors Of Other Attacks at Cliffe; Officials Deny the Reports

A Radcliffe student was raped at gunpoint in her dormitory last Tuesday night-the first such incident to occur in the College's history, according to Radcliffe officials.

The officials denied, however, a number of rumors alleging other rapes or assaults which have been circulating at Radcliffe since the incident occurred.

"Radcliffe is working closely with the campus police on the case," Deane W. Lord, director of the Radcliffe News and Publications Office, said yesterday. "They are trying to keep an absolutely good vigilance over the Quad area."

She said the rape occurred Tuesday night in an off-campus dormitory as other residents attended a meeting in the house. A man, armed with either a real or toy gun, forced his way into the dormitory and raped a student not at the meeting.

Head Residents in Cabot and Whitman Halls posted the following description of the assailant: a 5' 11" white dark-haired male, wearing faded jeans and a tan jacket or raincoat. Police said his age was around 19 or 20.

Past History

Lord said that the only other violent incident she knew of at a Radcliffe dormitory was the stabbing of a student in Jordan J in the Spring of 1969.

Since last Tuesday, rumors alleging from one to four more rapes and countless assaults have proliferated at Radcliffe. "I came back from two days away to rumors of two rapes committed in Currier House over the weekend," Marvin F. Lazerson, Senior Tutor of Currier House, said yesterday. "I have checked both of them out and there is no truth in either," he added.

Counter Measures

In reaction to the rape, worried students in Radcliffe dormitories have discussed demanding measures ranging from free self-defense classes for all students to better lighting and more police. In theory, all brick dormitories are locked unless a student or a watchman is on duty at the bells desk, and off-campus dorms-houses in the surrounding area-are always kept locked.

"The thing is not to get people pushing the panic button-this should set everybody taking precautions," Lord said.