Current students and parents: what can you tell me about student safety issues at OU (and Norman)? Just heard from an acquaintance about a student who was shot and killed yesterday at a nearby apartment complex. Have heard of several other disturbing incidents recently. Really interested in your perspective, including which areas are more, or less, safe. Thanks much.
I also saw that (and other recent incidents) in the news, and am interested in what current students and parents can tell us.
My D is not at all uncomfortable in and around Norman-- though she is very accustomed to going to school in a much more urban area. I think anytime you have >20 k young adults in an area there are going to be some incidents. My D lives on campus, though ubers to off campus apartments on occassion or rides with friends to the mall and the downtown area-- she reports feeling very comfortable.
I’m a female who graduated in December. Hopefully that’s recent enough for my experiences to still be relevant.
East Norman, the part by Thunderbird, is generally considered worse than the main part where students live.
I take the train through Compton (ghetto city in LA) every day and Norman is nothing like that. I would never walk through Compton by myself or even with another female at night, but I did so all the time when I went to OU. The only times I actually felt justifiably scared were when drunken guys would try to pick fights near campus corner. The murder was an, in all likelihood, a tragic anomaly.
I used to bike around campus and the surrounding area at all hours of night and generally felt safe. That being said, I would never have gone to the part of town with the out of business auto shops at 2AM in just a bike. No matter how safe a city, you should still have your wits about you.
Imo, the greatest danger to students comes from other students. For instance, a classmate with severe alcoholism broke into my apartment, presumably to rape my roommate. There are frats which have covered up sexual assaults, drunken idiots who yell sexist crap out window, and the occasional student who goes crazy (friend’s house got broken into by a bipolar ex). However, these incidents are rare and frankly could happen at any school.
So long as your daughter knows how to handle herself, she’ll likely be fine.