UC responds to students’ safety concerns
CINCINNATI (WXIX) – The University of Cincinnati responded to students’ safety concerns about crime in the areas surrounding campus.
Vice Provost of Enrollment Management Jack Miner said there are a lot of positives and some negatives that come with having a campus in a big city.
The magic of UC and why so many students are choosing UC is that it’s an urban environment, Miner explained. You’re getting all the added positives that come with being in a large city. There are also negatives.
Enrollment at UC has gone up every year since 2021.
Along with a rise in enrollment, crime has also increased in most areas neighboring campus, according to Cincy Insights, which tracks crimes in and around the city.
We’ve had bigger and bigger classes, and we can’t expand anywhere inside campus, said UC student TJ DeWees. We can’t add more dorms, we can’t build bigger ones, so we’re kind of pushing kids out, which I think is an issue.
DeWees alerted FOX19 NOW about potential housing issues forcing students to live off-campus, but Miner said there was no issue.
We’re adding a significant amount of space to our portfolio as residence halls, Miner explained.
Miner said 2,000 additional beds will be available in the fall in addition to the reopening of the Siddall Dorm and the acquisition of properties like the Deacon and Union on Taft.
Any student that’s in residence halls now as a freshman has the option of choosing to live in there in their sophomore year, and as I said, we are meeting that demand, Miner said.
There are about 1,500 spaces on campus for upperclassmen, Miner said. A majority of them go to sophomores who have applied…
The vice provost of enrollment management said this number is standard for UC and many students opt to live off-campus.
As that density around campus increases, as the variety of housing around campus increases, that increases the traffic around campus and that starts to make campus more vibrant and safer, Miner stated.
The University of Cincinnati Police Department, according to Miner, works closely with Cincinnati police to monitor situations off campus, but for the most part, that’s CPD’s jurisdiction.
Students who live off campus like Hailey Smith say they wish UC would be more transparent in their messaging when incidents do happen off campus.
FOX19 NOW talked with Smith after the launch of Cincy Crime Stoppers on Instagram…
Miner says UC prioritizes accuracy when sending out alerts and encourages students to continue finding ways to keep themselves safe.
We really try to make sure what students are doing for themselves is thinking about what information they need to be safe and navigate the campus area in a way that makes them feel most comfortable and knowing that to be able to set up the protocols for yourself to make you feel most safe, added Miner.
You can find more information about housing at UC here.
