Campus crime: Colleges must be truthful with stats

The Oklahoman Editorial

Published: July 20, 2007

WHEN an Eastern Michigan University student was found dead in her dorm room, school officials said publicly there was "no reason to suspect foul play.” They told her parents the same thing, even though campus police and other law enforcement thought the death suspicious.

Two months later, police arrested a student in connection with Laura Dickinson's death, accusing him of rape and murder. University officials have been left to answer important questions about whether they put fears about bad publicity above the safety of other students.

Such situations are exactly why colleges and universities are required to disclose campus crime information, a federal law the Michigan school apparently violated. That violation undoubtedly gave students and faculty false assurance about campus safety.

University officials throughout the country are on constant alert with regard to how students and parents — current and prospective — perceive the school, particularly when it comes to safety. No parents want to send their wide-eyed teenager away to college when a predator might be on the loose. But safety must take precedence over the potential for bad publicity.

The federal government makes public crime statistics for every college campus with students who receive federal student aid. The data include alleged criminal acts reported to campus security, regardless of whether the allegations eventually prove true.

Earlier this year, Oklahoman reporter Ryan McNeill found that more than 500 violent crimes and nearly 100 arrests for illegal weapons possession were reported on or near Oklahoma's post-secondary campuses from 2003 through 2005. Parents with college-age kids and younger would be wise to spend a little time sifting through the crime data available online at www.ope.ed.gov/ security/main.asp.

The federal government relies on schools to accurately report incidents so it's incumbent on schools to be forthcoming. Student safety is far more important than a school's image.

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