It’s almost impossible to feel completely secure at college. Transition and challenge transport you from what you know into something new. Although you may have tried the waters there’s no foolproof method to prepare for the experience until you do it. Parents don’t usually have to worry as college has for so many years been like a combustion engine with controlled bursts of energy creating momentum getting people to a predetermined destination. It’s a place to grow, experiment, forge the tools of professionalism and more.

So, what’s happening on campuses? There have been numerous problems over the past three academic years and some results have been mortally violent. Since September 11th we’ve seen an increase in airline security. The results have been mixed with some failing grades during security tests, but thankfully no more terrorist attacks. The recent attacks at colleges have renewed terror in the hearts of Americans and have exposed a security deficit in of all places our institutions of higher learning.

In truth besides local police there does not appear to be anyone keeping us safe at the moment. Warnings stating Bin Laden is determined to attack within the US in the near future go unnoticed. After he does attack and kills thousands of Americans he is shortly thereafter proclaimed someone who no longer poses a serious threat. We invade Iraq to stop a madman supposedly stockpiling nuclear and chemical weapons who it turns out is just one of many dictators in the world running a broken country posing no real threat to the US. In the process we have stretched our current military to an almost breaking point.

Boogey men are the fad, mysterious people lurking in the shadows waiting to pounce at any time from whom no there’s no escape. Evil doers, evil ones, bad guys, dangerous people, wolves in sheep’s clothing, terrorists, white guys, brown guys, black guys, yellow guys, young guys, old guys, men, women, straight, gay, mad cows, sick birds, the religious, the sinners, mother nature, human advancement, scientists, philosophers, priests, business men, day laborers, people from the other side of the tracks, the weirdoes next door, construction which blocks traffic and the lazy workers who never fix those darn potholes. The recent violence on college campuses however is a serious reality and has occurred more than once.

People making decisions regarding themselves or loved ones attending college want to know what mechanisms there are in place for the identification and subsequent treatment of suspected time bombs. When I was in attendance at the University of Connecticut’s School of Landscape Architecture I was mistakenly targeted as a terrorist/ danger to society and gained a tiny window of insight into the scenario. The treatment I received from people in positions of authority might be surprising.

I was harassed on a regular basis. The harassment came from the top meaning professors in the department who revealed their opinions to my classmates and then encouraged those classmates to participate in the harassment. The harassment took the form of everything from subtle insinuations and hints to blatant harassment both verbally and physically. Both forms of harassment came from professors and students. The incidents persisted throughout my time in the program.

It occurred because certain professors wanted me out of the program due to their belief I was a terrorist or posed some similar threat. Thirteen years prior to my enrollment at UCONN (with its successful men’s and women’s basketball teams) I had participated in a student political protest which unfortunately went violent. At the time I was a seventeen year old high school senior. The insinuations at UCONN were relative to that incident combined with my race (my father was from India) equaling a racist misconception that I was a terrorist. I don’t know exactly how or why they would have known or cared about my past.

Either way the harassment happened and insulted my racial classification and patriotism. The treatment angered me and stressed me out to no end. I constantly thought about what happened the day before at school, what happened that day and what could happen the following day. Had I been a person prone to psychological breaks and committing acts of violence similar to those lately this was surely the kind environment to foster such a reaction.

There are no reasons, except mental instability, attributed to the unthinkable acts perpetrated on campuses around the country, although there were red flags with all the individuals warranting observation. The full details of what happened may never be known as the stories are spotty, no one saw it coming and what happened is the stuff of nightmarish intangible phenomena. Almost all are attributed to vague mental disorders but guns, unstable people, mental disease and institutions of higher education have existed at least as long as our constitution. It’s only recently that there are patterns of violence begging further questioning.

Mental disorders alone could explain these events, but certainly provocations or abuses aren’t the smartest ways to deal with such people. Creating a culture of lawlessness and sending the message to America’s future generations that pushing people to their breaking points is the way to deal with those we are unsure of sends a dangerous message from my experience. In my case the attempts to get me to quit the Landscape Architecture Program at UCONN using these methods were failures and most likely the product of a dim LED in a tiny mind. It was traumatizing nonetheless.

I survived to spread the story, but the future of school, college and workplace shootings is to some extent in the hands of the next generation. Harassing people identified as ticking time bombs is a road with do not enter and wrong way signs posted everywhere. Perhaps someone thinking of taking such a road will look to the tragedies and quagmires of late and approach things with a measure of rationality and care for everyone involved before resorting to reactions born from the frail traditions of old fears.

To read more about my experiences with harassment at UCONN go to www.lawsuitagainstuconn.com.