After every nationally reported violent incident on campuses across the United States, such as the recent University of North Carolina Charlotte shooting in April, where two students were killed and others injured, along with the rise of the #MeToo movement, there is an increased concern for safety on college campuses. Parents want to be sure their children will be safe, and students want to be sure the college they choose is one they can attend without the fear of dealing with violence alongside their college responsibilities.
The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, known simply as the Clery Act, requires all colleges and universities that participate in federal financial aid programs to disclose statistics of crimes and offenses performed on or near their campuses. The statistics for the last three years must be made known in some way to students by October on a yearly basis.
These statistics show that smaller schools generally have less reported violent offenses than larger universities. Out of seven colleges in Southwestern Pennsylvania with an undergraduate student population under 1,500, three schools, including Waynesburg University reported no rapes in the past three years reported. The other four schools in consideration reported less than six on their campuses within the past three years. Duquesne University, a school with an undergraduate student population of just over 6,000, reported 10 during three academic years.
Schools with an even larger population reported far more rapes statistically. Carnegie Mellon University, a school with approximately 7,000 undergraduate students, had 32 reported rapes in three years, and The University of Pittsburgh, a school with an undergraduate student population of 19,330, had 28. The counts of aggravated assault at colleges generally rise along with the student population as well, according to the crime statistics disclosed by schools.
Christopher Hardie, assistant dean of Student Services, said he believes the size of small universities is the main reason for the smaller amount of crimes reported on their campuses, as it allows the administrators’ to have a closer relationship with a higher percentage of the students on campus.
“Because of the size, … you really do, as an administrator or a security officer, get to know the students a little bit better than you would at a West Virginia or Penn State, where there are thousands of students across campus,” Hardie said.
Waynesburg University also has less reported violent crimes than most other schools the same relative size in Southwestern Pennsylvania. In addition to having zero reports of rape in the last three years, there is only one report of aggravated assault in that time. Combined with two non-aggravated assaults reported, that still equals far less than nearby colleges its size, like Washington & Jefferson College, which reported 13 assaults from 2015-2017. Washington & Jefferson College has not yet included 2018 statistics in their report.
“It’s relatively safe here, especially with those higher end crimes, so we are talking about violence, harassment, stalking … I don’t see a lot of those come through my office,” Hardie said. “We do see a lot of other little stuff, like minor personal conflict, that don’t usually end in any physical altercation.”
Waynesburg University reported one Violence Against Women Act crime, an incident of dating violence. This was the least reported amount within three years among seven schools below an undergraduate student population of 1,500 in Southwestern Pennsylvania. La Roche University reported two, Chatham University and Geneva College reported seven and Thiel College reported 18. Washington & Jefferson College and Carlow University did not include this section in their reports.
Michael Humiston director of the Department of Public Safety, has worked at Waynesburg University for around 30 years. He said he has seen the number of reported incidents at the university generally go down over the years.
“When I first got here, we had social Greeks, fraternities and sororities, which bump those numbers up,” Humiston said. “Now that we don’t have them, those numbers have gone down.”
Humiston also explained that because Waynesburg University is an open campus, the statistics may be influenced by the community in ways as well.
“We do get some run-over from people who are not students here nor work at the university, but we have a very good working relationship with the police department,” Humiston said.
Hardie said there is always the possibility of unreported incidents because the students involved may not let anyone know about it, but due to the requirement for faculty, staff and students in paid positions, like resident assistants, to report all activities they know of that go against the law or the rules of the university, this is less likely to happen.
In addition, although Hardie doesn’t believe it has impacted the statistics at Waynesburg University yet, he said the #MeToo movement may also be of help in making sure violent incidents are reported in the future.
Humiston said although Waynesburg University has a great security staff, they rely greatly on others at the university.
“We count on and depend on students, faculty, staff and administration to help us create a positive environment,” Humiston said. “I certainly believe it takes a village to raise a child, and I think we’re doing the things that we need to do to make sure our students are safe.”