The concern about the tragedy involving Yasmeen “Yassy” Qutub, an 18-year-old Virginia Intermont College freshman found dead last week in Bristol, has extended across the state line to ETSU.
One ETSU student personified the fear saying, “I don’t know if I feel safe here anymore.”
But Bonnie Burchett, associate director of the ETSU office of housing and residence life, thinks that campus safety is something that should be done continually, not when something bad happens.
“That is why we set up a table at every orientation to hand out safety tips,” Burchette said. “Then when the semester starts, we send an officer out to every residence hall. We are currently working to replace the 911 emergency phones located throughout the campus and checking the lighting on campus.”
“We’ve taken great steps to increase student safety,” Burchette said. “We’ve increased our night patrol from one or two to at least three. They patrol the dorms making sure that all the doors are closed and check the lobby. They also patrol the parking lots,” she said.
Laura Mondul, director of college relations at Virginia Intermont in Bristol, Va., said in a recent statement, “The police have said that the death was not necessarily a homicide.” But the intrigue surrounding the death of Qutub has continued.
Qutub, a native of Hoffman Estates near Chicago, left VI’s Main Hall around 9 p.m. on Feb. 8 after having an argument with another female student. When she failed to return by the following day, her twin sister and roommate, Ahila, called police and filed a missing person report.
Students at VI mobilized during the disappearance by posting fliers on campus and throughout the two Bristols. The FBI even joined in the search efforts.
Students held a candlelight vigil for Qutub on Feb. 13.
The body was discovered by a passerby about 10:30 a.m., Feb. 14 in a wooded area behind the Food City on Euclid Avenue.
Classes were immediately canceled at VI immediately following the announcement.
“Students were upset and saddened with the announcement of her death,” Mondul said. “But the students have been pulling each other up and relying on each other for strength,” she commented.
“We’ve also brought in counselors from the crisis center to deal with the grief, and several of her friends and the college president went to the funeral (in Illinois) this weekend.”
In addition, Mondul said, “We increased our security on VI, and make vigorous rounds in all the dorms in the evening. We are also advising students not to go out alone at night, and we are continuing to provide an escort service to students who don’t feel safe walking to their car, home, or whatever.”
Heightened security measures are being installed at ETSU, too.
“We’ve also taken other steps as well,” Burchett said. “We’re installing card locks inside the male dorms to better protect our male students.
“We’ve worked with the Physical Plant on campus to trim the shrubbery. When the shrubs become too high, it becomes the perfect hiding place for strangers,” she said.
“We also work with other campus agencies to get our message out. The Counseling Center is great at promoting personal safety as part of a comprehensive whole, and the East Tennessean does a great job at letting students know what is happening on campus.”
Meanwhile, the Bristol, Va., police department has released few details about the inquiry so as to not jeopardize the investigation.
Dr. Ann Kegley, the local medical examiner, has ordered an autopsy for Qutub’s body. The body was transported to the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Roanoke, Va. The results of the autopsy will aid law enforcement efforts in this case.
For one’s own sake, Burchett suggests the simplest measures of all may be the safest.
“Don’t go out alone at night, tell someone where you are going at all times, and use the buddy system if you are going to go cross campus, especially at night,” she said.
Safety information is posted on the Student Resident Channel, posted on all doors in the dorms on campus, or more information can be obtained by calling the office of housing and residence life at 439-4446 or public safety at 439-6900.

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