After hearing about numerous student victims of assaults over the course of one semester at a medium sized public university I checked out the crime rate that was published on the school’s web page. None of the assaults I heard (in good detail) about were reflected in the crime counts. The school appeared to have virtually no crime except some minor property crime. Upon further inquiry I learned that the assaults had happened near university owned buildings located in the downtown area of the city rather than on the main campus and on the bus that has the name of the university on its side. Some of the crime occurred while students took university owned buses from the campus to the buildings that the university owns downtown. Some students became crime victims while they were at local (downtown) restaurants and bars which are a block from the new university owned buildings at this particular school. Apparently even though students now routinely spend time in the downtown area and are often there for classes in university owned buildings, the crimes do not have to be listed in the standardized reporting of university crimes. The result is that the pubic remains unaware of the actual crime rate and there is no way for the public to know the extent to which students are victims. The report gives no indication that these crimes can be left off the report. In fact, there is a place in the report for reporting crimes that occurred off campus and those columns can be marked zero (and are) because the university is not obligated to report them. That gives a very false impression of the crime rate-at least in this one public/state university. I suspect this school is not the only one with a report that obscures the extent to which students are victims of violent crimes.
This thread is intended to alert students and their parents to the possibility that the university crime report they are reviewing on a school’s web page that may give the impression of no violent crime may not reflect the actual experiences of students at that university. Do not be placated by seeing zeros in the columns that give the appearance of reflecting the extent to which students have been victimized by violent crimes off campus. If the students spend time in a city that has an elevated crime rate, it is likely that they are at risk-even if the school’s report appears to indicate otherwise.
Many people miss the fact that the federally-mandated Clery Act reporting includes only crime on campus or university-owned property. Parents concerned about sexual assaults also may want to keep in mind that those rates will always appear to be higher at residential colleges where almost all the students live on campus. Large state universities often have very low numbers because a much smaller proportion of their population lives on campus and most of the parties take place at off-campus locations. Numbers also may vary depending upon whether the campus center providing victim resources is a confidential resource. For example, at my institution, more than half of the reported sexual assaults were anonymous reports to our crisis center, which is not technically a confidential resource (although they would never divulge personal information about the students they serve). If a center is confidential (typically staffed by licensed counselors), none of those reports may show up in the annual statistics. Parents should be very cautious about directly comparing institutions without knowing more about how each one compiles its numbers.
Very true! And especially true for medium sized public schools with histories of scandal-known to bury the truth rather than to reveal it and known to bury truth rather than implement changes when wrong doing is revealed. And that is the kind of school that I have experience with and talked with students about. Parents beware. Students do your homework!!
That’s a good point. You need to look at the area the report covers. The University of Minnesota - TC is a public university but they do cover any area where students are likely to be in off-campus housing.
A student is apparently in critical condition having been assaulted about 3 weeks ago (" was struck in the head with an unknown object and robbed of his belongings. The student was taken to an area hospital and his attacker is still at large.").
This is not an isolated event. In October 2014, less than 2 months into the semester, there had apparently already been 5 student assault victims. Since then I’m sure there have been dozens but there appears to be a concerted effort to keep them out of the news. Of course, when a student is beaten so badly that he ends up in ICU it is not possible to keep that quiet.
An article noted that " A string of assaults occurring in Downtown … has raised concerns among students living off campus, University officials and the … Police Department (BPD). One of the victims apparently stated "“The city’s streets are still dangerous enough that you have to live in fear of strangers attacking you totally unprovoked,” “It’s the mix of them not doing enough to clean up the streets where their own students live, coupled with the fact that they offered absolutely no aid of any kind to me; that makes me question the University’s true priorities and concerns.”
Another article notes “I’m sure everyone is conscious of the prominent gang activity that is prevalent in Downtown … October is the month where these gangs hold initiation. Violence is present and widespread, and it’s important that each student keeps this in mind while walking the streets of … Unfortunately, in the past, there have been a number of instances when … University students have been assaulted. Dean of Students…, and Assistant Dean of Students usually email all of their students to alert them when this time period is approaching.”
And while there are university buildings in the downtown area, and although most of the assaults happen in the downtown area where bars and restaurants are situated, assaults outside of the main part of the campus are apparently not included in the online crime reports. Further, there appears to be a concerted effort to promote the area as “safe”. In fact, people on CC have often made such claims about the area around this particular university. It simply is not safe. And it is less safe than just about anywhere in the USA. I have a hard time believing that anyone who has visited the area in the past 5 years could genuinely believe it is safe. University PR and claims made by people motivated to promote a university as safe when they know it is not do a disservice to parents and students. Yes crime can occur anywhere but there are huge differences across cities. Prospective students should look at the crime rates for the areas where students spend time. Do your research!
And to those of you who want to promote a university, please make sure what you are saying is accurate. It is better for students to make decisions about where to attend using accurate information. In this case, having inaccurate information can place a student at great risk.
Well it could be any school in an economically depressed city but googling one of the quotes would tell you-and you can read about the crime rate in that and other cities with universities you may be considering.
Why be coy @lostaccount? I’m not going to take the time to look up your quotes if you are not being straightforward/ If you are referring to my post, I wasn’t promoting any university - just providing information (that’s what CC is for) on how one university I am familiar with gathers information compared to one in the state I live in. Obviously any large city will have relatively large crime rates whereas many people are lulled into assuming college towns are much safer. Isn’t that supposed to be the point of your post?
The university that lostaccount is referring to is safe. I am not suggesting that crime does not exist, but in all of my years of speaking to students attending this particular university, not once has one of them spoken about crime or expressed any fear. One girl I know is now working in that city and loves it. Is there crime? My guess is yes- absolutely. Is it worse than other schools? No.
There is crime everywhere. A coworker’s daughter was robbed at gunpoint at a very popular, large, Midwestern campus in the middle of the day. She was so upset that she transferred.
Another top top school in my state ( same state that lostaccount is referring to) had 4 sexual assaults on campus within a very short period of time about 2 years ago. It made the news.
We visited another " top" school last summer. Once again the news (TV) reported multiple assaults on campus.
The university he’s referring to is SUNY Binghamton. He has a history of posting unflattering (albeit potentially true) facts about the university. These same facts could apply to a number of other schools, but he seems to have particularly strong feelings about Bing, for whatever reason.
Binghamton are known for being very dishonest towards their students and in the public eye, and they’re also quite a bit overrated academically. Plus, their sports teams, particularly the basketball team, are abhorrent.
I have been reading on CC about the dishonesty of Bing towards their students. In the past five years I have only met one student who was not happy there, and it had nothing to do with dishonesty. Academically it is a solid school. I would not call it a highly competitive school, but I would not call it easy to get into either. Every kid I know who graduated from Bing is either employed or in grad school. I think it is weird that this particular state school gets so much attention. Is it perfect? No. Is it right for everybody? No. No school is right for everybody. Will it give students a good education and prepare them for employment or some type of graduate school? Yes.
That’s why you have to balance out CC advice. I know many people swear by it as their sole resource but if you mainly have some people who have had a bad experience posting then the view is quite biased.