University lower on ‘Dangerous Colleges’ list

New reports suggest SIU might not be as unsafe as originally deemed.

The Daily Egyptian reported Wednesday that the publication Business Insider published “The Most Dangerous College in America” Nov. 20, which ranked SIUC at the 15th slot of 25 other ranked universities. However, business Insider published another article with a new list Monday that moved SIUC to the 24th slot based on data from 2007 to 2009 compiled through the Clery Act.

The first article was based on FBI data from 2008 to 2011. The difference, according to Business Insider, is that the Clery Act data is exclusive to campus crime, whereas the FBI data could have included off-campus crime activity or not include colleges that did not participate in the FBI crime survey.

The Clery data also did not include any crime reports on larceny.

Rod Sievers, university spokesperson, said Business Insider has come under fire about their articles. Sievers is one of the many who disputed the original article’s claims.

“It does not change my (original) opinion about the list Business Insider put out,” Sievers said. “Business Insider obviously felt the need to put out this second article because it has been put under fire.”

He said he still thinks students feel safe at SIU.

“We dropped way down in the second list,” he said. “You can make numbers look the way you want.”

Sievers said the methodology used in the Business Insider’s articles were neither critically examined nor credible.

“While they aren’t backtracking, they put out a new list due to the controversy with the original list,” he said. “The people who put it out were misguided.”

Christopher Blake, chief staff officer for the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators, made a press statement on the IACLEA website about the articles. Blake stated Business Insider presented a list that was misleading and highly distorted.

“The fact is that credible, longitudinal studies have proven the 18-to-24-year-old students are less likely to be a victim of a violent crime on a college campus than in general society,” he said.