A student was robbed at knifepoint early Sunday morning at the corner of Erwin Road and Anderson Street. Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta notified the student body of the incident in an e-mail later Sunday morning.
The student told Duke police that he was walking home alone from Cafe Parizade on Main Street after getting into a fight with his friends. When he reached the intersection of Erwin Road and Anderson Street around 1:50 a.m., he was approached by two black males who asked him for money.
When the student said he did not have any money, one of the suspects pulled out a knife. The two men took the student's wallet, which contained a driver's license, bank card, video card and Wal-Mart card with a combined value of $50.
The student described the suspects, who fled after taking his wallet, as wearing blue jeans, tennis shoes and gray sweat-type jackets with hoods.
Maj. Phyllis Cooper of the Duke University Police Department said Duke police are working with Durham police to investigate the incident.
"We will be stopping and talking to students and any people in the area where this incident occurred to see if they saw anything," she said. "We'll also be stopping and IDing any suspicious person in the area."
Security has been a prime topic of conversation on campus since a student was robbed, presumably at gunpoint, in the Bryan Center in November 2003. Last month, a student was reportedly raped on West Campus and, just two days later, another student was reportedly sexually assaulted on Central Campus.
The University came under fire after the recent sexual assaults for what many saw as an unnecessary lag time between notification of the rape on West Campus and dissemination of that information to the rest of the student body. Moneta acknowledged at the time that the University should have notified students of the rape before notifying the news media.
Students received an e-mail about Sunday's knifepoint robbery about eight hours after the incident occurred. In the e-mail, Moneta urged students to be aware of their surroundings, to avoid walking alone at night and to call a cab, friend or SafeRides for transportation.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.