When leaving the Harriet Irving Library, Lisa Bell was aware of a man leaving behind her.
She made her way down the hill to the Lady Beaverbrook Gym and didn’t think anything of it until she realized he was still behind her.
She was relieved to see students making their way to class, but in the back of her mind, the possibility of danger lingered. She kept walking and he kept following.
“It was probably something as simple as we both were just headed in the same direction, but it really made me nervous how he was behind me the whole time. I just worried in the back of my mind that I might be in danger,” said Bell.
She turned a corner and felt panicked, realizing there was no one in sight. Her heart raced and she went into a building nearby. She turned right and he continued left.
It’s not an uncommon feeling among young women on campus.
With the kidnapping and murder of Amber Kirwan in New Glasgow, N.S. earlier this fall, more are feeling vulnerable.
It’s a reminder that even in communities considered safe, terrible acts of violence still happen.
“The stories, because they are so close to home, stick with you and are there in the back of your mind. It kind of makes you paranoid thinking it could be me,” said Bell, a fourth-year student at the University of New Brunswick.
Jane Bardsley, a third-year student at St. Thomas University, first heard of Kirwan’s disappearance in October when visiting a friend at Acadia University in Wolfville, N.S.
“We stopped at a store to get gas. On the front window of the store was a poster, obviously made by the people that care about her, pleading for any information about her [disappearance].
“I thought to myself about how desperate one of her loved ones was when putting up that poster [and] how would I have felt in that situation. That’s when it really hit home.”
Bardsley finds herself making a conscious effort to avoid walking home alone from classes. She is also more conscious about putting herself in unnecessary danger.
“These things don’t happen…when you’re growing up in those areas. You know those things don’t happen. You associate that with a big city like Toronto or Winnipeg, not New Glasgow.”
For STU graduate Tara Chislett, Kirwan’s murder pulls her mind back home.
She grew up in New Glasglow and has been following the investigation.
She remembers many times walking alone on the same stretch of road where Kirwan was last seen.
“I used to walk that every time I would go to Dooly’s, every time by myself at three in the morning.”
Chislett said the investigation surrounding Kirwan’s kidnapping and murder has struck a personal note.
“It’s hard to watch from afar and it’s hard to know that it could have been you. Reading about it and just knowing that I’ve been down that area. That I’ve probably been that girl that could’ve ended up in that really terrible situation.”
While not sentimental about her home, Chislett checks the New Glasgow News website daily.
She admits she is more aware of her personal safety here in Fredericton.
“I know since this has happened I don’t go home by myself from the bar. Even here, which wouldn’t have been a problem before.”
UNB security officer Steve Stafford said what happened to Kirwan should be in the minds of students, that they are being smart in being more aware of their own security.
But he reassures students that there are facilities in place should any student feel in danger or in need of protection.
“I think students here are pretty safe with us. We have Safewalk if someone felt they wanted a walk home, we also have SafeRide. There are quite a few different things we can do.
“Students can always call us and we’ll be there instantly.”
