Three Binghamton University students were attacked at the intersection of Hawley Street and Exchange Street this past weekend. But chances are you probably hadn’t heard about it. In fact, Pipe Dream may not have been informed of this assault had one of the victims not been related to a former editor.

Hundreds of students were out in the Downtown area around the same time of the attack, and their safety could have been compromised by the assailants. Yet the information of the incident did not surface publicly until Monday afternoon, and the University has yet to issue a statement or alert about the incident more than two days after it occurred.

Another violent assault. Another wall of silence from the administration. This is unacceptable.

Members of the BU administration were well-aware of this vicious attack — we know this because they reached out to the victims the following day to see how they were doing. But it seems that this is as far as they felt they needed to go. There was no mass-email warning students about the violence that had occurred Saturday night. Instead, it seems as if the hope was that this incident would be quickly forgotten, so as not to mar BU’s public perception.

These students were not in a “rough neighborhood.” They were in the middle of Downtown, two blocks from the Binghamton police precinct when the attack occurred. They were traveling in a group, just like off-campus students are advised to do at night. And yet, the attack on these students who were behaving responsibly — who were seemingly doing everything right — was not communicated to any other BU student.

We attend a university that is in the middle of a growth spurt. But in BU’s never-ending quest for “premier,” current students are being let down in order to attract prospective ones.

When cell phone service was down a week and a half ago, every student got a B-Alert. But on Sunday morning, there was no email waiting to be read regarding the assault.

The University must acknowledge the ugly truth that Binghamton is a city like any other, and that crime and violence occurs here. Nobody wins when students get hurt and the University keeps the information to itself. Opening up about important issues in the surrounding area might hurt Binghamton’s reputation in the short-term, but staying silent and losing the trust of students will hurt this school much more.

Having said this, Pipe Dream’s Editorial Board acknowledges that there are many things that are simply out of the University’s power. Clearly UPD can’t patrol the streets Downtown, and there is only so much that the University can do to police student behavior. But it does have the power to inform students.

We have said, on numerous occasions, that the University needs to expand its notifications system. When three students get assaulted by a group of thugs Downtown, we need to know as soon as the University does. When a different student gets his head smashed on the West Side, our phones should be buzzing. We demand transparency from our University. Give us information — however unpleasant it may be — so that we can make smart decisions and keep ourselves safe.

We should not have heard about this attack by chance. Pipe Dream should not be breaking this news to the student body days after it occurred. The administration has been silent on issues of student safety for far too long, and it must now work to win back the trust of the student body.

Enough is enough.