Thanks for sharing! I also read the news that there was a robbery to a faculty right after the day of the murder. So scary! It is very very sad and the news spread very quickly worldwide. Is Uchicago not gated campus?
Wow, thanks for taking the time to write this and sharing your feelings. It is good to hear how things feel on the ground from a current student. My son is/maybe was? planning on applying ED2 to U Chicago - but also considering Vanderbilt, Swarthmore and WashU.
Are freshmen and sophomores guaranteed on campus housing?
I just wanted a forum where I could reach as many potential/current applicants as possible. UChicago is certainly not a gated campus, but I am not sure many urban universities are - up until these incidents, I have appreciated feeling integrated with the surrounding community, and I regularly volunteered off-campus. I will say that I have not felt unsafe on campus so far, but given the fact that this recent murder happened quite literally across the street from the gym, I worry that this type of violence will encroach further. Criminals are emboldened largely by inept politicians and a weary police force, but UChicago could and should do more to protect its students. The temporary measures are nowhere near enough, but I do hope that the arrest made in the case will deter the crime for at least a few weeks. Obviously, this does not say much for longer-term campus/community safety and security.
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Yes, they are. I moved off-campus last year, but I was considering moving back on despite the increased cost next year if the situation doesn’t improve. I hear gunshots from my (very near campus) apartment, and limiting my travel to and from campus to morning/midday is both impossible with my academic and extracurricular commitments and, clearly, not enough to keep me safe (Zheng was shot right before 2pm on a weekday).
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Well, you have reached our family. I have another high schooler applying in a couple years who LOVES U Chicago. It is their one and only ED … they would choose it ED 1, 2 and 3 if there was such a thing.
This is crazy. Your generation has had to deal with so much - growing up with iphones and social media, for many students an incredibly stressful high school experience working so hard to get into a good college … and then Covid derails life for what will end up being 2 years+.
And now to have to deal with this at your university … one of the best universities in our country … with an endowment of more than 8 billion dollars … wow. But my family’s stress over what to do about college admissions and even your fear walking around Hyde Park is nothing compared to the loss these 3 poor families are dealing with … and it is not just a death in the family, in each of the 3 cases it is the death of a superstar. It is very, very sad and very, very scary.
I sent your comments and the faculty letter to my kids and several friends with applicant kids. Thank you
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Stepped up safety measure: Avoid carrying a bag, as a college student? 
If true, then these instances of not alerting the campus commmunity of violent crime would certainly be Clery Act violations.
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I am not intimately familiar with the specific requirements of the Clery Act - that said, I do know that universities must keep a detailed log of all incidents that occur on and near campus (which they do - as I mentioned, this can be viewed on the UCPD website) and they must send “timely” security alerts of incidents that are a threat to the community. Obviously, this is vague wording, and we do not know how the university and police defines an active threat. I also believe the university can go beyond federal regulations in maintaining transparency with the campus community when this type of crime occurs regularly. I received my first UChicago notification about the homicide 2.5 hours after it happened (the arrest was made days after), and I see confirmed reports of violent crime (carjackings, muggings, shots fired) on Citizen and do not receive alerts, though they are all posted in the daily UCPD crime log.
What can the UChicago do to improve safety? Move all students back to the dorms on campus? But there might not be enough room. Run shuttles? but students might be targeted while walking to and waiting for the shuttles. It seems that very little can be done to ensure the students’ safety to and from school, and that is frightening.
@70etoh As a parent of a fourth year, I am in tears reading your post. Tears of sadness for your anguish, tears of frustration with the state of one of this country’s great cities, tears of fear for my precious daughter, tears of impotence in the face of this intractable problem. Thank you for sharing your feelings on this forum.
There is a UGo shuttle with both day and night schedules. Is there a reason you have opted not to use this service?
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UChicago does indeed run shuttles:
https://safety-security.uchicago.edu/services/ugo_daytime_shuttles/
https://safety-security.uchicago.edu/services/ugo_nightride_shuttles/
It’s possible that a student could be targeted while awaiting for a shuttle; however, most students do UGo from places like the Reg or other main sections of campus.
UChicago complies with the Clery report. The safety and security alerts are activated for students when there is an active threat to the university community on campus. The vast majority of violent crime - muggings, car-jackings etc - happens off campus, usually well off-campus, even if students live in the area. That area of Chicago’s lakefront - Woodlawn, Hyde Park, Kenwood, Bronzeville, even South Loop - has a very large student population due to the presence of UChicago, IIT and UIC on the south side of the city. However, students aren’t the only residents, and they aren’t even the majority population. Working professionals, families, the elderly, and so forth are there as well.
Anyone who wishes to track daily crime in and near Hyde Park can sign up for UCPD daily crime log e-mails by accessing the university’s safety and security website.
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To be clear, that was not a faculty member but a UChicago contract employee who was robbed at gunpoint at something like 5:30 in the morning. Not good - especially because UChicago and CPD had supposedly stepped up police presence - but not a faculty member. Muggings are pretty common in the area and over the past few years the thugs have gotten more bold (occurring during daylight hours in places you wouldn’t expect them to). Things really escalated since the “Defund the Police” protests in the area in 2020.
Could be that the police feel their hands are tied - proactive policing is politically unpopular right now and many mayors of our large cities have vowed to get rid of anything that appears to be racial profiling. Also - and unsurprisingly - it’s not a popular profession at the moment; retirements in CPD alone through the first half of 2021 topped all of 2018.
So the city is trying to do more with fewer resources. The criminals are keeping track - after all, the risk of getting caught is a lot lower now than it used to be. Is it any surprise that violent crime has skyrocketed and seeped into areas previously considered “safe?” Hyde Park is not the only neighborhood impacted: the number of car-jackings on the Gold Coast, for instance, have become so numerous that long-time residents feel it’s no longer safe to live there. These are older, wealthy bedrock-types who have lived in and contributed to the city for decades. Losing them - or the young families who have flocked to the city in recent decades and are raising their kids, attending schools, etc right in Chicago - would be devastating. It would be a return to the bad old days of last century when people abandoned our great cities for the safer suburbs, simply because they perceived that the former had become unlivable.
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It seems the most recent murder, while technically off campus, should have resulted in an active threat to students because it was in front of a school building and the perp wasn’t apprehended immediately. How did the police know there was no active threat? We have at least one current student on this thread asking that same question.
Here are the daily U Chicago police reports, they do police off campus streets. https://incidentreports.uchicago.edu/
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With students living off campus, the university can, and IMO, should, be sending out alerts to students, in real time, about violent situations.
Purdue sends alerts to students for the greater W. Lafayette area. I remember when D was a freshman freaking out about my first alert and it ended up being clear across town (miles away). It was a car jacking not involving students but the suspect hadn’t been caught so the alert went out. I realize Chicago has much higher incidents of crime than middle of nowhere IN, but campus police should be responsible for keeping students safe, on and off campus. The university has the funds to grow their police force as needed.
It was not in front of a school building. 54th Place is a North-South (ie “long”) block away from 55th and more than a long-block away from Ratner and Stagg Field. It’s a residential street that doesn’t resemble a university campus except for maybe the presence of a fraternity. Frats are not affiliated with the university, although there are no restrictions on students affiliating with a frat or with any off-campus group.
The incident reports you have linked are equivalent to the daily bulletins that I receive via e-mail. I have pasted today’s report below. In addition to this resource, anyone can download the UChicago mobile safety app and follow incident reports as they happen.
You are correct that it probably wouldn’t be clear to a typical student who is just now being made aware of the level of crime in the area as to the level of threat to the community. To be clear: random muggings, car-jackings and shootings are a threat to the safety of the community, including all who live in Hyde Park. The university safety alerts are designed to notify students of things like evacuations of or shelters in place within campus facilities. If they go off every time there’s a mugging students might tune them out.
University of Chicago Police Department Crime Bulletin
From 12:01 a.m. to 11:59 p.m., Monday, November 15, 2021 , the following serious incidents were reported to and/or by the University of Chicago Police Department:
Hyde Park-South Kenwood
Monday, November 15, 2021 at 10:45 a.m., 52nd Street between University and Woodlawn – Robbery A person was followed into the vestibule of their off-campus apartment building by an unknown suspect. The suspect took the victim’s wallet, cell phone and car keys before fleeing on foot. The Chicago Police Department is investigating this case.
North Kenwood-Oakland
Monday, November 15, 2021 at 12:39 a.m., 1200 E. 47th Street – Criminal Sexual Assault – CPD and UCPD officers responded to a call of a sexual assault at 1200 E. 47th Street. UCPD has little information on the incident at this time. The Chicago Police Department is investigating this crime.
This Community Crime Bulletin is provided to better inform interested community members about serious crimes reported to the University of Chicago Police Department. The types of crime that may be included in this bulletin include homicides, criminal sexual assaults, robberies, aggravated batteries, residential burglaries classified as home invasions, as well as criminal damage to property when caused by gunfire. This bulletin specifically lists serious crimes reported to UCPD within the geographical boundaries of 37th to 64th streets / Cottage Grove Avenue to Lake Shore Drive.
Hyde Park and Kenwood consistently rank among the safer communities in Chicago. We will continue to work with the neighboring communities, CPD and the campus community to maintain the safety and security of the areas we serve. To see more crime statistics, visit: http://gis.chicagopolice.org/
If you have any information related to incidents reported on a bulletin or if you witness any suspicious activity, please report it immediately to the Chicago Police Department (911) or the University of Chicago Police Department (773-702-8181).
Download the UChicago Safe app here: UChicago Safe: Mobile Safety App | University of Chicago
The UCPD Daily Crime Log can be viewed at: https://incidentreports.uchicago.edu/
To learn more about all of the Department of Safety and Security’s crime communication methods, visit our “stay informed” page athttps://safety-security.uchicago.edu/stay_informed/
If you no longer wish to receive this bulletin, please click HERE and select “unsubscribe” on the left panel.
This is offensive and victim blaming.
This is more than just possible. Two such targetings in the past TWO months: Tyree Smith, shot and killed while waiting for his school bus, Louisville, KY, September 23; 16 yo boy shot while waiting for school bus, Saddle Schoals, GA, dies a day later, November 4.
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A lot of public employee retirements in the last year have been because of concerns that pension benefits will be slashed in future contracts. They have little to do with “defund the police”.
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I was going by what the student poster wrote above:
I will say that I have not felt unsafe on campus so far, but given the fact that this recent murder happened quite literally across the street from the gym
I wonder if the students are rethinking last year’s advocacy to defund the University police? UChicago student rally calls for school to defund its campus police, invest in cultural centers, community - ABC7 Chicago
Not only is a student on this thread, several students have made media appearances over the last week to talk about their feelings regarding campus safety. The problem is multifactorial and closing intertwined with Chicago’s crime rates to be sure, but at this point I hope UC has engaged a crisis management PR firm.
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