The University-Oxford community recently scored high marks in polls concerned with a matter more critical than mere beauty: safety.
However, although Collegesafe.com recently ranked Ole Miss as the ninth safest campus in the nation, recent reports of violent crimes conflict with this perception.
UPD records indicate that in both 2010 and 2011, one robbery was reported per year. This semester, one armed robbery has already been reported.
In the same years respectively, 49 and 46 burglaries were reported.
Numbers of robberies and burglaries reported on campus have increased since 2009, when 28 burglaries and no robberies were reported. From Aug. 26 to Sept. 19 this year, UPD has received 32 reports of larceny, of which seven were for more than $500, 15 reports of drugs, seven reports of assault and one report of weapons.
Campus Walk Apartments have been the backdrop of multiple crimes committed this semester, with a strong-arm robbery having taken place on Aug. 7, a burglary and assault and act of vandalism that caused $500 worth of damage on Aug. 16.
Senior art major Sam Malott was a victim of a car burglary last year on South 18th Street, in which her sunglasses, purse, and iPad were stolen. Despite her past and the recent crimes around campus, Malott still believes Ole Miss is as safe as ever.
“I love Ole Miss and would never change my opinion of the place, regardless of a robbery or not,” Malott said. “It’s my home.”
