Syracuse University’s Fast Forward initiative is meant to be student-focused, but it seems student security has taken a backseat to other initiatives.

SU’s approximate 4,800-student graduate population are being disproportionately affected by safety issues due to the fact that graduate students are overwhelmingly housed off-campus, where they are vulnerable to robbery and assault. In response, graduate community members have expressed discontent with the current dynamic of feeling slighted when it comes to living arrangements.

Because graduate students make up a large portion of the university community, their concerns should be taken into greater consideration by the administration. And since  Fast Forward is centered on transforming the campus environment for the better, graduate student safety should undeniably be a part of that development.

The disparity between graduate and undergraduate safety is rooted in the fact that undergraduates have early access to and the first pick of the SU housing lottery, whereas graduates aren’t as informed when choosing their place of residence and are late to the process. Graduate students are then forced to pick houses further away from campus.

According to the Onondaga Crime Analysis Center, housing just off SU’s campus saw 2,556 crimes from 2013-2015. A map — created by SU senior Alexander Lynch and based on Syracuse Police Department and Department of Public Safety data — shows that crime increases the farther away from campus a given residence is.

Along with the fact that graduate students are disenfranchised from the “real” SU housing process, the strain on campus housing due to increased enrollment only exacerbates the issue of graduate students being forced to live in unsafe neighborhoods.

The long-term solution to graduate students being greatly targeted due to their residence is to address SU’s overall housing issue. Fixing this problem would require a significant amount of time, planning and money, but allotting more on-campus housing options would be transformative for undergraduates and graduate students whose only alternative may be living in Westcott and who have to walk the blocks of Euclid at night.

Until then, short-term solutions come in the form of Lynch’s proposal to install 45 CCTV cameras in off-campus neighborhoods to discourage crime — a process that is valued at approximately $500,000. Despite the high price, it’s initiatives like that of Lynch’s that the university administration should approach as a valid answer for consideration.

While measures to deter crime deal with the increased risks for burglaries and assaults that off-campus students face as opposed to the greater housing issue, looking into them is essential. The administration is responsible for ensuring that students are safe wherever they live, especially at a time when on-campus housing availability is not ideal.
The SU administration needs not only to come up with a solution for off-campus safety and housing issues, but it should work toward constructing a timeline for realizing its proposals. Yes, initiatives like the upcoming campus promenade are important, but when the lives of SU students are at risk, the administration should take a moment to re-examine its priorities.

Published on May 3, 2016 at 1:42 am

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