Both Danielle and I laughed as we fell out of the elevator onto our residence floor. It was after hours, and since it was a Saturday night over a holiday break, most of the other girls were home enjoying some time with their families. I had to work over the break at the on-campus gym, and my roommate’s family had taken a trip out of the country, so she decided to keep me company.

We were laughing mostly because we both had had a little too much to drink down at the Showhouse Saloon, a regular haunt for State College students. I was only eighteen, while Danielle was nineteen—both of...