Another UChicago person murdered - 3rd this year

Just terrible.

So sad. That’s a residential area, right?

Yes, very residential and I believe there is a fraternity house right there as well (learned that from reading the parent facebook page). A LOT of students (including mine) live off campus in that North/West quadrant of Hyde Park. But it’s also just across 55th from Ratner and Stagg Field. One parent posted that they were on the phone with their son at North when they could hear the gunshots in the background.

Really tragic. I like Chicago a lot but, every time I visit, I worry more about my safety than when I am in other large American cities because violent crimes seem to occur more randomly there.

My D22 considered UChicago but we ruled it out in part due to safety concerns, particularly given that she’s never lived in the US and might not be so streetwise.

Stay safe, UChicago students and staff.

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Fortunately, the university is taking steps. There had been a safety and security webinar for parents set for tonight, but they have rescheduled it for tomorrow and opened it to the entire UChicago community in order to address questions from the recent attacks. Parents and families of the College should have received a notice about this today from Jay Ellison and details will follow shortly.

Pres. Alivisatos and Prov. Lee sent out the following last night:

To: Members of the University Community

From: Paul Alivisatos, President, and Ka Yee C. Lee, Provost

Subject: Today’s Incidents

Date: November 9, 2021

Dear Members of the University of Chicago Community,

This is a deeply painful day for our community and our city. This afternoon we received the terrible news that a recent graduate of the University was shot and killed off-campus in the course of a robbery. The graduate’s name will be shared once their family has been notified. Earlier this same day, there was another incident of gunfire off-campus, near the University’s Polsky Center and Harper Court. In that case thankfully no one was injured, but many of our colleagues and neighbors were shaken by the sudden threat of violence.

We have been in close contact with Mayor Lightfoot, Chicago Police Department Superintendent Brown and other members of the Mayor’s team, along with local aldermen, and are speaking again tomorrow. The City is formalizing, with the University’s involvement, a number of short and longer-term public safety strategies specifically for the Hyde Park and surrounding communities. More will be communicated soon.

Our city struggles with many of the same issues of violence that afflict all large cities in the U.S. Unless we can meet that challenge together, our communities will not truly feel safe. The University and the Hyde Park community make up one of this City’s great neighborhoods, and we are fully committed to doing more as a University and as an anchor institution on the South Side. This includes developing comprehensive efforts to reduce violence, and supporting Chicago’s communities in securing a safer future. As Provost Lee said in an August message on public safety, we have taken a number of positive steps, but know there is much more to do. This includes mobilizing the academic and policy expertise of the UChicago community to engage with other national experts and officials in efforts to strengthen our cities and reduce the human toll of gun violence. We will push constantly for our city and our own University community to work on this problem with the immediacy, vision and ambition that it demands.

It is also vital to support the University community in our time of grief. Students can visit the Get Help site for a full array of available resources. Counselors at UChicago Student Wellness are available by phone at 773-702-3625, and students may visit the Student Wellness website to learn more or schedule a counseling appointment. Academic Advisers and Religious Advisers are also available to talk with students. Assistance for faculty and staff is available through Perspectives, which can be reached any time at 800-456-6327.

Yeah, my son told me about that fraternity house last night. He had been to some parties there at the beginning of the term.

They arrested a suspect and have charged him. 18 year old.

Sickening. A 24 yo whose life meant something ended by someone who never had a future. It’s not UChicago’s job to fix this. The University needs as many police on campus and in HP as possible. If it wants to be a good neighbor, it can help secure the area. It’s a crying shame that one of the greatest universities in the world is being dragged down by the city and a cultural pity for people who are intent on destroying civil society.

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There have been 5 murders in Hyde Park this year, including 3 UChicago students.
Suspect Charged in Death of University of Chicago Student | U.S. News® | US News

One of the two other killings was actually committed that morning, although the person responsible was later released, according to Hyde Park Herald. Not sure of the details but it read like a domestic conflict between siblings with the stabbing in self defense. The fifth was a woman security guard in an apartment building on the same day in January that UChicago PhD student Yiran Fan was murdered - and by the same guy who also shot several others that day before being taken down by police in Evanston that evening. There was one more, I believe; someone (might have been a university employee?) was found dead in their car near the hospital and that read like a targeted incident. Not sure what happened there or why it wasn’t more publicized.

Fan was murdered in the (secured) garage of Regent’s Park. Max Lewis on the CTA Green Line during Rush Hour at the 51st street station. And Zheng in front of many witnesses on a neighborhood street that I’ve walked down and parked my car on because it’s safe and near to where my kids live/lived. What sort of self-defense or Lyft program - or even additional police - can prevent someone falling victim to these horrific acts of violent crime? The perp doesn’t seem to care. They need to be stopped before they strike, searched, disarmed and put away. Unfortunately, policing has become less proactive in the wake of protests and demonstrations against racial bias. Police may be able solve the case due to some great technology, but they apparently can’t prevent an armed predator from striking in the first place. This reality might be contributing to the significant uptick in violent crime in many larger urban areas.

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The perpetrator could have had a decent future. He chose not to.

24 years old only. so sad! For safety reasons, I would never let my kids apply to UChicago.

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What happened last week was very upsetting to hear. My daughter attends the school, so of course I called her immediately. She is very social and has a large group of friends, along with many teammates. She said that everyone is in shock by what happened. She indicated that none of her friends or teammates have ever had any issues, that they are confused by what happened last week, and that it is not normal. When I read stuff on forums, I get freaked out, but then I talk to people that live there, and get a much different perspective.

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It all sounds great, fine, and dandy until your student is the unlucky one. So I sympathize with those not willing to take the risk when there are safer options.

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I visited Chicago 4 years ago. I didn’t feel unsafe when walking on the street downtown. My friend living north of Chicago about an hour away always told us how scary the area is. This is the 2nd Chinese international killed this year and I believe he was the only child in the family due to the one-child policy in mainland China. Once I heard the news I also called my kid studying in New York City. This kind of news always makes me so worried about him since the city also has increased crime rates.

It’s very concerning what is happening in America. We are focussing on Uchicago right now, but there’s increases in crime all across the US, and many campuses. I can name dozens of other schools that are also having issues with crime. The South side of Chicago does have some very bad neighborhoods, but Hyde Park and UChicago have always done a great job of keeping the residence safe and serious crime out. My hopes are that Uchicago, although they have done a good job in the past, will step up the police force and take other measures to resolve the concerns we are having.

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We visited the school over the summer. We are from NY and are very comfortable in a big city. In general, the city felt pretty safe, but we stayed in the heart of the city that was blanketed by police. The school is beautiful and we had a terrific guide. However, the area around the school did not feel safe. There is no way I would let my daughter attend school there. Anything can happen anywhere, but the area around the school is particularly troublesome. These beautiful cities are under assault and will continue to deteriorate until we start electing officials who have the courage to clean up our cities and have the compassion to help our impoverished and desperate communities. This is not a U Chicago problem, it’s a societal problem. Sadly, I don’t see anything changing in the near future. We will continue to elect irresponsible officials and prosecutors who have no plans to fix anything. Very sad.

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I am a current student. I urge all prospective students to NOT apply to this school. I have loved almost every aspect of my experience here, and if you had asked me in January, I would have enthusiastically encouraged people to apply. Unfortunately, UChicago is NOT safe. After the events of this year, I fear for my life while walking to class. I have been forced to download the Citizen app and follow crime-spotting Twitter accounts to be kept up-to-date on areas to avoid due to armed robberies and shootings because UChicago simply does not tell us. The school is not doing anything substantive to keep its students safe - instead, they are trying to downplay the brutal murders resulting in 3 dead students to make sure that YOU, the prospective students, don’t know the details. (1) We are not alerted to most instances of violent crime. You can see this for yourself when comparing the UCPD daily crime log to the security alert emails we receive. The only reason I knew about Zheng’s murder was through Citizen. The University did not alert us until hours after it happened, and the suspect had not been caught during that time. This occurred a BLOCK off of campus in an area that I and almost every off-campus student walk through daily to get to class. This was simply described in the email as an “off-campus” shooting involving a “recent graduate” in an attempt to downplay what had happened. Had I been a first year who didn’t know where Ellis and 54th was, I would have thought this was not close enough to affect me. (2) The University is placing temporary band-aid solutions on the problem in place of real change. It took days of lobbying by students, parents, and faculty to convince UChicago to expand the free Lyft program (which only is in effect from 9pm-4am despite it getting dark at 4:30pm here) for the next couple of weeks - just long enough so that we will “forget” about the whole incident. There are only temporary other measures being added to fight crime in the area, such as increased police presence and video cameras, but in 2 weeks everything will be back to “normal”. UCPD has essentially admitted to their inability to control criminal activity in the area by posting “avoid carrying a bag” on their Facebook page as tips to avoid getting mugged and shot. Avoid carrying a bag, as a college student. I can go on and on about how UChicago does not care about us surviving to our graduations as long as applications keep coming in, but the bottom line is this: I back up my devices weekly in case I get mugged and need to replace my belongings. I tense up every time a car passes me on the sidewalk, afraid they will rob me at gunpoint or worse. I don’t walk anywhere alone, and I often Uber back from my 6pm mandatory class labs, because the free Lyft program is not in effect and it is pitch black outside. I can barely focus on my classes, let alone enjoy my college experience here, and we are continuing as if its business as usual. My parents are spending $80,000 a year to wonder if I will make it home for Thanksgiving.

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I encourage everyone to read this open letter signed by over 300 UChicago faculty.

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