On Thursday, a student worker found some writing on the stairwell of Lawson Hall reading “I’m leaving the school I love because I can’t deal with the pain caused by the guy who sexually assaulted me.”

The message with signed “Hopelessly Hurt” with a heart.

Though this one was more private than the very public writing on the Doudna Steps, the underlying messages in all the writings and cries for help over the past semester and a half show the ongoing problem of sexual assault on Eastern’s campus.

Michael Gillespie, a sociology professor and a Faculty Fellow for Lawson Hall, said he was saddened by the writing on the stairwell.

“It hit pretty close to home for me,” he said. “These are my residents.”

After thinking about it for a bit, Gillespie said he sees the message as a cry for help.

“It’s sort of an admission – someone was hoping someone else would see it eventually,” he said. “The person needed to get that message out there.”

Gillespie said this message differs from the writings on the Doudna Steps because of how secluded it was.

“To want to leave the institution is just such a hard experience,” he said.

The person who found the message had been working in the building doing some painting and maintenance work and ended up painting over the message, Gillespie said.

The message appeared to be written in permanent marker on one of the bricks in the Lawson Hall stairwell leading out to the roof access.

Mark Hudson, the director of university housing and dining services, said the message was a definite statement of concern.

“We always want to talk to our students that have concerns so we can help them,” he said. “It’s certainly a disturbing note.”

Hudson said that although the top of a stairwell is still a public place, it is a lot more private than large chalk letters on the Doudna Steps.

Hudson said the stairwells are painted every 10 years.

“This message seems more shrouded to me,” he said. “The placement makes me wonder how long it was up there.”

Jeannie Ludlow, the adviser for the Women’s Empowerment League, said she wondered how long the message had been on the stairwell as well.

“The language doesn’t sound like it’s 10 years old (like the paint),” Ludlow said. “It’s only really been in the last three or four years that people have been saying sexual assault instead of rape.”

Ludlow agreed with Hudson about how this message appears more private than the other writings that have been previously discussed.

“It’s more intimate and more private,” she said. “It’s also likely that this was someone’s private space.”

Ludlow said the person who wrote the message may have thought the only other people that would see the message were other people who lived in the building.

“It’s almost asking for an interpersonal connection rather than a social action,” she said.

One of the things that stood out to Ludlow when she heard about the writing was the sad tone of the message itself.

“You have someone saying they’re leaving the school they love, so this is someone who’s clearly very sad,” she said.

The first thing that Ludlow said crossed her mind when Gillespie showed her the picture of the message was that she wanted to reach out the person.

Ludlow said that if the person has left campus and cannot use the Counseling Center, the Sexual Assault Information and Counseling Service is available.

“We want this person to be OK, and we want them to know where they can go for help,” she said.

Robyn Dexter can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].