A student at Mount Saint Vincent University who says she was attacked in a campus parking lot hopes sharing her story will lead to an arrest and increased safety measures on campus.

Gabrielle Chapman says she was walking near a parking lot early Monday morning when she was grabbed from behind.

“My arms were pinned,” she says, “and I couldn't really move.”

The first-year public relations student says her mind moved quickly. She dropped her weight to her knees, elbowed him and screamed.

“He let me go and ran the opposite way,” says Chapman.

Chapman says she ran back to her dorm and called her boyfriend, who told her to call police.

Halifax Regional Police confirmed they responded, but say they would need more information in order to move the investigation forward.

“Just one camera there probably would have gotten his face,” Chapman says.

That’s why she decided to share her story. Chapman feels more on-campus emergency phones and defence classes at the gym would prevent similar situations.

“We have approximately 300 cameras on campus. Those are predominantly focused internal, so we have (cameras) in doorways, exits, our banking machines, … our pub, our convenience store,” says Brian Jessop, vice-president of administrations at MSVU.

Jessop says the university is in the process of installing 25 more cameras outside and around residences.

The university says situations like Jessop’s are rare on this campus of 3,800 people, but they are making several changes to address students' concerns.

“We did a campus tour at night with student representatives and security and we walked around campus and looked at locations where lighting was low. We made six or seven of those modifications,” says Jessop. 

He says they've also cut back trees and shrubs around walkways.

Chapman says the security cameras would make her feel more secure.

“I haven't gone outside late at night since then,” she says. “When I came back to school the next day, even though it was during the day, I felt really uncomfortable being in the parking lot and it's right beside where I live.”

Chapman met with administration on Wednesday to talk about her concerns, hoping to make something positive out of something she never saw coming.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Laura Brown.