University of the District of Columbia Named Safest College Campus in the Nation’s Capital 

April 8, 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:  John Gordon, Jr., Director of Communications

202.274.5998 (office) or 202.701.8805 (cell) or john.gordon@udc.edu

Washington, DC – ADT Security Services has named the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) as the safest college campus in Washington, D.C. on its state-by-state listing of America’s safest colleges and universities.  The top ranking is based on data from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Postsecondary Education, which requires all institutions that participate in federal student aid programs to provide transparency around criminal activity and other incidents that would be regarded as “unsafe.”  Among area colleges, UDC reported the least amount of activity.

In recent years, campus safety has become a growing concern. With the rise of sexual assault, shootings and other criminal activity on college campuses, prospective students and families have taken safety into account when making that “next-step” decision. To calculate its so-called “Danger Scores,” ADT used a weighted system that assigns higher values to violent crimes compared with non-violent property crimes. Enrollment size also helped determine the scores. Over the past five years, UDC has consistently maintained very low rates of serious crime.

“Safety and the well-being of our students, faculty and staff are among our highest priorities,” said President Ronald Mason, Jr. “This ranking shows that we are an excellent option for affordable and high-quality education in a safe learning environment.”

The UDC Police Department consists of more than three dozen professionally trained and sworn police officers, supervisors, and civilian communication specialists that are firmly committed to maintaining a safe and healthy academic community where students, faculty, staff and guests can take full advantage of the educational and many other opportunities that the University has to offer.

“Our mission is to reduce fear, preserve the peace, and provide for a safe environment, said UDC Police Chief Mario Foster. “Being acknowledged as one of the nation’s safest college campuses would not have been possible without strong support from University leadership and the dedication of our police officers and civilian employees within the department where excellence through professionalism is our goal.”

Deputy Police Chief Ron Culmer agrees, and attributes the national ranking to effective use of safety technology and good communication between the campus community and its police department.

“I think it’s a community effort in what we do — encouraging students to download the LiveSafe security application, listening to what students’ concerns are, addressing those concerns, working with local law enforcement and having them help us with our issues,” he said. “We do a lot of risk management on campus. We talk about how (students) can better protect themselves from becoming victims of crime. It’s a partnership between us and the community that makes it work.”

To see a full list of safest colleges, click here https://www.adt.com/resources/moving-to-college-tips .