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As the clown hysteria dwindles, some students remain vigilant and fearful. Photo via Flickr/Steve Baker[/caption]
With Halloween approaching, officials in South Orange maintain that they are not concerned with clown-related trouble.
Sightings throughout the country could have been pulled from a page out of a Stephen King novel. However, this fear is not affecting the authorities, especially with Halloween approaching.
“Honestly, we don’t subscribe to this national fear of someone in a clown costume,” said South Orange Police Sgt. Adrian Acevedo. According to Acevedo, no clown sightings have been reported to the police in South Orange.
Assistant Vice President for Public Safety and Security, Pat Linfante, reflected SOPD’s sentiments on the clown issue. There have been zero reports of clowns on campus and Public Safety will not be doing anything different this year in terms of safety precautions.
“We issue extra security on any Halloween and this one will be no different,” Linfante said. “Honestly, I think the hype surrounding the clowns has died out.”
Senior diplomacy and international relations major Clare Duda said she can’t explain why this trend of clown sightings shook her so much, but she is scared.
“I’m not usually scared of the crazy fads that pop up every few months, but I don’t like how the clowns cover their faces and you really don’t know what they are going to do,” Duda said. “You can’t tell if it’s a joke or not.”
Duda agreed that the clown craze has died down a bit, but she is concerned it will come back Halloween weekend.
“Extra public safety wouldn’t hurt,” Duda said. “I will definitely feel safer with extra staff on for the weekend.”
Duda is not alone in thinking the clowns might make a surprise appearance this weekend, but Acevedo said it is not a clown isolated issue.
“I’m sure people will be dressing up this Halloween and be up to no good,” Acevedo said. “But this happens every year on Halloween because of the nature of masks and dressing up.”
SOPD addressed the real victims of this situation.
“We feel really sorry for guys who dress up as clowns for a living and can’t get work anymore because of this,” Acevedo said.
Linfante hopes this year will go as smoothly as years past.
“We are all adults here. We don’t have issues,” Linfante said.
Siobhan McGirl can be reached at siobhan.mcgirl@student.shu.edu.
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