<p>D admitted and planning on accepting.
Houston resident but have spent a lot of time in N.O.
I realize we are not talking about Mayberry, but this seems disturbing for a parent to find.
Why did Tulane Students feel the need to post this video and open a web page/petition?
Some of the comment on incidents are chilling (if true) of the kids that signed the petition.</p>
<p>Thank you for any insight.</p>
<p>Wow… We visited in November and asked about saftey and crime and were told that within a 5 block area it was safe at all times… maybe a little sugar coated?</p>
<p>OK, there have been numerous postings about this over the last few years. But just to recap, the Uptown area around Tulane is very safe, especially relative to certain parts of New Orleans that are miles away. However, there was an uptick in robberies (possibly armed, in most cases the perps said they had a gun but never showed it) in the Fall semester. We are still talking about a relatively small number, but it was definitely more than in the past few years and some were quite brazen.</p>
<p>Some students and parents felt like the city and the school were not reacting quickly enough, hence the video and petition. This coincided with a new Chief of the Tulane PD (real police, btw, not rent-a-cops) who started Spring semester and, along with the administration, took much more decisive steps that seem to have had a very positive impact, bringing the crime levels to their previous lows, or maybe even a bit lower. They made sure all street lights were operational, added more safety features to the SafeRide program, created safety corridors along the most traveled routes from campus to popular locations, and increased the number of patrols off campus, along with other measures.</p>
<p>Not to be diagreeable, stuckintx, but I wouldn’t think any Tulane official said it was “safe at all times”. If they really said that, then yes they overstated it, but it is as safe or safer than similar areas near many urban schools such as USC, U Chicago, Columbia, Penn, Johns Hopkins, Wash U/St. Louis, etc. etc. Especially now that they have taken these measures, but even prior the number of incidents were still statistically low. But of course when it is you that are the victim, the incidence rate is 100%, and naturally people get upset. Especially when it is a spike in activity, even if that spike is still relatively a low amount. Not trying to minimize what was happening at all, I added my voice to the call to take stronger action. It is critical that students feel safe, especially when they are trying to use common sense to stay safe. I was very glad to see everyone take it seriously and make things better. Now we just have to keep it that way.</p>
<p>I like Tulane. A lot.</p>
<p>I don’t feel safe here. Not off campus. On campus? I can go for runs at night and feel fine. Afternoon, on walks? Sure. Early morning? After seven? Off campus? Alone? Oh no. </p>
<p>I generally follow the safety rules and still have had close calls. Maybe I’m just unlucky.</p>
<p>I was “almost” mugged two months ago at 6PM a few streets away from Tulane (toward mid-city) on St. Charles. It was a kid (14, 15, 16) and he tried to corner me into some bushes for a “light.” I got out of the situation, didn’t report it because it didn’t happen, but knew what was going on and what would have happened if the kid hadn’t been so amateurish and I hadn’t have been so assertive. (As my friend later pointed out: I don’t exactly look like someone who has a ‘light’ ready.)</p>
<p>Four (five? less than a week?) days ago someone was following me while I was walking up St. Charles. I was on the phone. (Don’t do this!) Guy was maybe a two feet away, with a hoodie up and tied (shield most of face) in 85 degree heat at 2PM. I noticed him while crossing a street and looking both ways for turning cars. I hung up, and the guy turned and went down the street. </p>
<p>These things are minor, really. I’ve mostly been concerned about rape. As a woman, no. I don’t feel safe. There’s crime everywhere but word seems to have gotten around that Tulane kids are rich, easy, drunk targets. That’s one reason why I’m really glad to be leaving this area, even though I love this city to death.</p>
<p>I really hate to hear that.
We will factor that in to the imminent decision.
Your reply does not surprise me though.</p>
<p>from tulanechild:
</p>
<p>I heard once that muggers look for people on the phone, listening to music (i.e., unaware of their surroundings). Also for women – hair in a ponytail is bad – easy to grab and pull.</p>
<p>Although I don’t go to Tulane myself, one of my parents works as a professor there and I have several friends who go there. Here’s the advice that was given in terms of safety in NO: </p>
<p>The campus is really safe, and all the dorms are on campus (usually somewhere in the middle) so going to and from class isn’t a problem. Uppertown in general is a pretty safe neighborhood (really safe relative to some of the other parts of NO) and students should be fine walking in daylight, as long as they’re exercising ordinary care of their surroundings. If you go out at night or in the evening (out of campus), make sure to bring a friend or two with you - don’t go alone. </p>
<p>A word of advice; if you do choose Tulane, make sure that you make it a priority to know (either from talking to advisors or upperclassmen) about which neighborhoods/streets/etc. to avoid, since the level of safety varies greatly depending on where you are.</p>
<p>In terms of overall safety, I have never really felt a huge problem when I stayed there over the summers. I’ve seen more police officers in NO than I have anywhere else, and if you stay out of the “problem” areas you’ll be fine. In all my time there, I’ve only been approached twice, and both times I just pretended that I couldn’t hear/see them, ducked my head to avoid eye contact (and to not seem aggressive/provocative), and made sure that I knew where they were in relation to my person in case they decided to do something. Both backed off verbally when I kept walking and didn’t even attempt to follow me. </p>
<p>Many of my friends who go to Tulane say that it’s safety isn’t a huge problem, as long as you’re not alone at night. All of the love the campus and the city in general, and none that I’ve talked to regrets going to Tulane.</p>
<p>I think callian said it very well. I would only add that advice such as “If you go out at night or in the evening (out of campus), make sure to bring a friend or two with you - don’t go alone.” and “Many of my friends who go to Tulane say that it’s (sic) safety isn’t a huge problem, as long as you’re not alone at night.” would be true at almost any campus in the country, even rural ones but certainly all urban and suburban ones.</p>
<p>Honestly, Tulane is statistically no worse and even better than many of the most well known schools in the country when it comes to reported crime.</p>
<p>Tejas - I can only additionally say to you that many of us have daughters there (Tulane is 55-60% female undergrad), and we certainly wouldn’t send them someplace if we felt that they were in greater danger than most places. My D walks long distances during the day, but of course she tends to be on well traveled streets like St. Charles, Broadway, Magazine, Oak, etc. At night she takes advantage of being in a group or using the Tulane ride program. She has never had a single problem, and neither have any of her friends.</p>
<p>Ah, thanks for catching that grammatical mistake for me, fallenchemist!
I really need to get more sleep this week; thank goodness I don’t have any papers due soon!</p>
<p>Tulane it is.</p>
<p>Our daughter has just put her deposit on her place in next falls Tulane class and seeing this video is going to make my wife very nervous. I do not think that students from the schools that fallenchemist cites here and other threads on this topic (fallenchemist has said how relatively safe Uptown is in other thread on this cite) have made a similar video proclaiming how unsafe they feel. The threads on this topic seem to be full of students mugged or worse all over the Uptown/Garden District/Carrolton area. Check out [New</a> Orleans, LA Crime Map - Showing Crimes in New Orleans - Crime Statistics, Alerts and Reports - Crime Stops Here](<a href=“http://spotcrime.com/la/new+orleans]New”>Crime in New Orleans - New Orleans, LA Crime Map | SpotCrime) strangely NO crimes in immediate area of school compare with [CrimeMapping.com</a> - National Map](<a href=“http://www.crimemapping.com/map/la/neworleans]CrimeMapping.com”>http://www.crimemapping.com/map/la/neworleans) which paints a different story. 4 separate shootings within a couple miles of campus just this month.</p>
<p>I don’t know if students at these other schools made videos or not, but they certainly have published articles over the years in their school papers and have held meetings regarding safety situations. Some of the stories from old threads were shown to be either highly unlikely or downright false. We had a problem on here with trolls and troublemakers then. Fortunately this seems to have gotten better, but in any case a few of those stories made no sense.</p>
<p>But as far as the video, there were a few incidents of some brazen armed robberies in the area near campus late Fall 1011 and Spring 2012. No one hurt, but obviously scary. It seemed to be the same perps each time, from what anyone could tell. They were finally caught and the incidents stopped, so to all appearances it seems it was one person/small group of 2-3 together that started a crime spree of sorts. In response to pressure from students, parents (including some of us here on CC) and others, Tulane and NOPD and the city took several steps to improve safety resources, which you probably already read about. The ones I remember off hand were to fix all the street lights in the area, hire more personnel, increase patrols in general and specifically along certain corridors where students most frequently accessed off-campus spots, and now they have added new smart phone applications where a student can log in that they are going to XYZ Bar and Grill where they expect to arrive at 7:00. This goes immediately to TUPD, and if the student does not signal they have arrived at the designated time, that student is immediately called and if no answer an officer dispatched. Of course a student can also request an escort, and there is a Safe Ride program as well. But I think it was the sudden uptick along with the brazen nature of the acts that got everyone worked up, and rightly so.</p>
<p>I am using both the links you provided and frankly I am not seeing the shootings you are talking about. It looks pretty clear of serious crime to me (April 1 - today). I see a couple of fraud reports, some thefts, a vandalism, and a drug report. I am not saying that nothing ever happens, but my D has been there 3 years and walks everywhere (including off campus in all directions) and has never had even a hint of an issue. There are about 3,500 undergraduate women at Tulane and if there were serious problems it would be all over the papers, the Hullabaloo, here on CC, etc. It just is not any more of an issue at Tulane than at USC, Chicago, UCLA, so on and so forth. I don’t know what else to tell you.</p>
<p>Defenderdad: I looked at the New Orleans Crime Map link (the first link in your post) and while I did see a few recent shootings, NONE of those is in an area that your daughter would ever find herself. They are not in any of the areas that a Tulane student would or should be frequenting. It would be very clear to anyone - even those not familiar with the area so it is not even a case that she would accidentally find herself there unless she is very adventurous. These shootings may appear close to the area on a tiny map, but in reality, they are quite removed from campus and the surrounding areas where students live and play. Generally speaking, I would say that most students stay within a very small radius of campus unless they are going downtown which doesn’t happen on a regular basis for most students. Downtown trips are typically related to a large group function such as a sorority or fraternity party and busses are usually provided to transport students and their guests. </p>
<p>As far as the video goes, I think it speaks positively to the idea that Tulane students believe that if they bring attention to something they consider a problem for Tulane students, they will get action from the administration. Tulane has always been proactive as far as student safety is concerned and is continuously taking steps to provide the latest in campus security, most recently with the addition of Rave Guardian. You can read about that here:
[Tulane</a> University - TUPD rolls out a virtual safety escort program](<a href=“http://tulane.edu/news/newwave/022613_guardian.cfm]Tulane”>| tulane)</p>
<p>Part of what attracts students to Tulane is the city of New Orleans. There are obvious tradeoffs when a student chooses any urban campus. You have to trust your daughter to be smart about her own safety. She will be provided the necessary information to make smart decisions. Tulane communicates regularly with students regarding campus area crimes through Crime Alert emails. So she will always be aware of what it going on around her.</p>
<p>
Upon rereading this, I realize I didn’t say exactly what I meant to say. It should have read “I am using both the links you provided and frankly I am not seeing the shootings in the Uptown area near Tulane you are talking about. It looks pretty clear of serious crime to me (April 1 - today). I see a couple of fraud reports, some thefts, a vandalism, and a drug report.” Just to clarify, obviously I do see other more serious crimes on the map. As has been discussed here many times, the vast majority of violent crime takes place miles from campus, and is mostly criminal on criminal.</p>
<p>We’ve committed to TU and my D is very excited…still, I am a bit nervous. One thing that struck me about the area on both of my visits was how under-lit many streets seem to be. Added to the fact that there’s a lot of lush greenery everywhere (charming in the daytime but a bit ominous at night). We stayed exclusively in the Garden District and as we walked to various restaurants I couldn’t help but wish there were more streetlights (and my 6’2" husband was with us). My D is a big-city kid and perhaps over-confident about getting around an urban environment. I think I’m going to have a long talk with her, but she’s still at an age where she “knows it all”.</p>
<p>nyermom: If she won’t listen to you, maybe when she hears it from the administration at orientation, she will pay a little more attention than they typically do to us “know nothing” parents. 
They will give them a talk and make them aware of the safety features that Tulane has in place for their protection. Of course, it is up to them to use them. Unless there is something out of the ordinary though, they usually don’t stray far from campus and when they do, they travel with their posse - there has never been a better case for “the more, the merrier.” Try not to stress!</p>
<p>Also, we haven’t mentioned for a while that you can set up an account with United Cab, the largest and most reliable taxi service in NOLA. That way she doesn’t have to have cash, just your account number. Or I bet they can look up the account if she doesn’t even have that. They just charge the ride to your credit card.</p>
<p>So rather than try and make it complicated, I emphasized two things in particular to my D. When out at night off campus travel in groups, and if she found herself in a situation away from campus alone, call a taxi (or if pretty close to campus, use the Safe Ride or call for an escort from TUPD). The other safety features are great, but I always felt that if she followed those two rules she would be doing the most to ensure her safety. Of course, I would have said the same thing had she gone to any other urban school.</p>
<p>Thanks for the United Cab information FC. They got very mixed reviews. Has anyone ever tried the corporate account? It seems as if they charge a monthly retainer fee but the cab drivers don’t really want to be involved with non cash customers. Any thoughts?</p>
<p>Personally I have never had a problem with United, and my D really hasn’t had to use them since freshman year. She knew people with cars since then, and of course was gone for that one year. Probably the cabbies don’t like it because people forget to tip. Still, it can be a good safety net, but one your student can do without if they are mostly in the campus/near off-campus area and walk with others or use the Safe Ride. I just wanted to make sure people were aware of the option.</p>
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<p>Really? Three of those shootings were 5 short blocks away from Boucherie, Carrollton and Jeannette… one of my favorite restaurants in NOLA, and only 6 blocks from Jacques Imo’s. Why wouldn’t a Tulane student find himself in this neighborhood?</p>
<p>Now, I’m pretty much having a heart attach that my son walked back to the hotel by himself at 11p.m. at night, even if it was just down St. Charles.</p>