Many have probably heard of the tragic news of the death of Annie Le, a Ph.D. student in medicine at Yale University. This hits especially close to me because Yale is my alma mater, and recently I even worked as a chaplain there for a year (in 2007-08). I remember in our Yale chaplains’ meetings that we had discussed what would our response be if there were a tragedy on campus. And now my former colleagues actually have to deal with that reality now, to comfort the grieved and offer prayers and words of wisdom.
For those unfamiliar with the facts, this is a quick synopsis: Annie was engaged to be married last Sunday, September 13, 2009. A few days before her wedding, she disappeared. She was last seen (and filmed) entering a high-security Yale medical building which is only accessible by swipe card access. She never left. On the day of what was supposed to be her wedding, her murdered body was found crammed into a wall recess. Clearly this was an inside job, and the list of suspects was a short one (i.e. it had to be someone with security clearance).
Today the police finally made an arrest, and Yale President Richard Levin issued an announcement.
This made me think about my current university where I work. Recently Biola University has erected a wall around what was formerly an “open” campus. La Mirada has one of the highest safety ratings in the state of California. Yet we live in a day and age when we can never take anything for granted, sadly. I think it’s fine that we erected a wall with gates and guards. There are threats outside. However, I think that may draw our attention away from another undeniable fact: the enemy within. Looking at the pattern of school killings, almost all have been perpetrated by “inside” people. Most outsiders to the school/university have no reason to inflict any damage. It is almost always a disgruntled student or employee, and I think especially of examples like Columbine, Virginia Tech, and a rash of post office killings.
What’s interesting about President Levin’s statement is the following quote:
“It is frightening that a member of our own community might have committed this terrible crime. But we must not let this incident shatter our trust in one another.” Yes, it is frightening that the murderer is one of us, but perhaps not surprising. There is a pattern we can see from almost every other example. But I like what Levin said to follow that up: we can’t give up trust in one another.
It is a paradox, to be sure. The ones we are closest to are often those who can do us the most harm. This was seen from the beginning: Adam and Eve sinned against God in the Garden of Eden. And this pattern continues: for example, most rapes are perpetrated by people who the victims already know, hardly ever by strangers. Yet we must not give in to a spirit of distrust, because we need community. For every person close to us that does us harm, there are 100 close to us that we cannot live without, who are our support, our loves, our friends. To devolve into a hermeneutic of suspicion would be madness.
Yet, at the same time, we need to be aware. Most likely if anything ever happens to Biola, it would be from someone inside the university, not from outside. But the way to protect ourselves is not to “screen” or “profile” everyone who walks by, but by watching out for each others’ interests. The best way to defend against the enemy from within is to not let it ever get to the point where anybody considers us an enemy. If every member of the Biola community feels affirmed, cared for, prayed over, and loved, hopefully it will never come to a head where we say, “Ohh, we should’ve seen it coming. They were a loner and nobody ever tried to befriend them, and now it’s too late.”
President Levin also said one other quote that I found interesting:
“This incident could have happened in any city, in any university, or in any workplace. It says more about the dark side of the human soul than it does about the extent of security measures.”
Levin put his finger on it. It is not gates or swipe cards or security measures that we need to mostly be focused on, it is the reality of human depravity. We are all fallen, and if this Annie Le incident does not point to the fact that this world needs God, I don’t know what does. The “enemy within” may be the would-be murderer who walks in our midst, but even more so it is the sinful human nature that dwells within each one of us. And again, this is why we can’t do it on our own and why we need Christ so badly. Kyrie eleison.