Clemson has historically been rated among the safest universities in the country. As of just 2022, Niche affiliate QNews Hub named Clemson University the second safest college in the United States. As of today, Clemson holds an A in safety on both Niche and U.S. News rankings.

The small town atmosphere and close-knit town-gown relationship with a large population of the town being college students themselves. For this reason, Clemson has been able to maintain a safe community in its recent history. So, why is it that students seem to be faced with news of crime and dangers regularly this semester?

Within the past two months, students at Clemson have been faced with many crime encounters, including gunshots, kidnapping, assault, indecent exposure and recent concerns of drink spiking.

In August of this year, a man was charged with “third-degree assault and battery, breach of peace, public disorderly conduct, indecent exposure, two counts of resisting arrest and two counts of threatening the life of a public official,” according to The Tiger after a naked man got on a Clemson Area Transit (CAT) bus in Seneca with students on board.

September saw the assault and kidnapping of a Clemson student at the hands of a registered sex offender in Oconee County. The offender was charged with “kidnapping, grand larceny, assault with intent to commit criminal sexual conduct, failure to stop for a blue light, resisting arrest and receiving stolen goods,” as well as reckless driving, driving under suspension and possession of marijuana, according to The Tiger.

Just this month, residents at a local student housing community “woke up to eight gunshots that sounded like a machine gun,” according to The Tiger. These gunshots were found to be a random act of violence. Nonetheless, this does not make the incident less of a concern to the community.

“They were just kind of short with me and just said like, ‘We’ve gotten a few calls about this, so we have police officers in the area.’ And then, about 40 minutes later, I still hadn’t seen any cop lights. I was kind of too scared to move from my bed, but no cop lights,” a resident told The Tiger’s news team in an interview.

The community has clearly been affected by the recent crime in the area. Recently, the danger downtown concerning drink spiking has been generating buzz.

The issue of drink spiking is not only of concern to the student body, but the police department has recently reported hearing word of drink spiking in downtown bars, citing that they had “received positive tests of foreign substances in their systems and we have an active investigation into these allegations,” in a news release.

Bars have been taking precautions such as providing lids for drinks and keeping an extra vigilant eye out for dangers. However, they are placing the majority of the responsibility on the customers at the establishments. This comes at a high risk to the students who visit these bars, especially given the high volume of students who are more inclined to drink at this point in the semester.
Upcoming celebrations such as Halloween, ring ceremony and the football season all cause increased volumes of community downtown, creating increased risks of danger for bar-goers. Though students are aware of the issue at hand, safety is not a top priority for many students when going out, and especially once under the influence of alcohol, individual safety becomes less of a priority.

Similar challenges of negligence have historically arisen in regard to alcohol safety and general safety in hazing incidents of the past. Over the years, these sorts of incidents have placed many students at risk of death if not facing a close call. This issue is taken very lightly by many students at the University, even though many University officials have spoken out against the practice.

Students used to living in a town known nationally for their campus’ safety are not used to having to worry about their personal safety; however, given current circumstances this should shift to a more imperative focus.

“You can play a powerful role in helping other people stay safe,” an email from CUPD stated.

This email also provided a list of safety tips for students to follow to help ensure safety downtown. Though this is a large issue at hand, there are other recent crime incidents that support the notion that maybe Clemson isn’t as safe as it seems on the surface.

Though the University is comparatively safe in regards to other schools, this does not mean that the student body is immune to danger. It is imperative for students to be aware of the dangers that exist in this community and not find themselves blissfully unaware due to the marketed safety rankings.

Kylie Tutterrow is a junior political science and communication double major from Spartanburg, South Carolina. Kylie can be reached at [email protected].