Students planning to attend college may want to consider avoiding the East Coast, as eight of the 10 most dangerous American campuses are located there.
And four of them are found in New York state alone, according to a new study.
The Parrish Law Firma Virginia-based personal injury firm, analyzed data from the U.S. Department of Education on the number of hate crimes, criminal offenses, and violations of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) that occurred on each college campus from 2018 to 2022.
Gallaudet University, a private university in Washington, DC, was the most violent campus per capita during that four-year period.
Gallaudet University, pictured, was ranked the most dangerous campus in the U.S. from 2018 to 2022 based on federally compiled data.
The university, which had 914 undergraduates in the fall 2022 semester, had 282 VAWA crimes, which included crimes such as domestic violence and stalking.
There were also 30 hate crimes, involving property vandalism, theft and sexual crimes.
Dominic Lacy, chief operating officer at Gallaudet University, said the Parrish Law Firm study was inaccurate and cited his own crime data.
Dominic Lacy, pictured, disagreed with Parrish Law Firm’s study over its characterization of campus crime data.
“Gallaudet and the Clerc Center are fortunate to be in the heart of a city as vibrant as Washington, D.C.,” Lacy said in a statement shared with fox 5 ad.
‘As in any urban environment, there are always certain realities that we manage every day to maintain a safe university community. The published story was misleading and irresponsible and does not provide an accurate picture of our crime statistics.
Although your own reportGallaudet noted 730 criminal violations or referrals on campus between 2020 and 2022. The most common violations were alcohol-related, likely referring to underage drinking.
Hobart and William Smith College was the second most dangerous college in the United States and the first in New York to appear on the list.
Hobart and William Smith Colleges recorded 22 violations during the 2022 school year, more than the first and third most dangerous schools combined
St. John’s University in Queens, New York, had a wide range of crimes committed on its property between 2018 and 2022, including aggravated assault, robbery and arson.
The private university in Geneva, which is about a five-hour drive from New York City, had many VAWA violations and “disciplinary actions.”
It also recorded 22 violations in 2022 alone, according to data from Campus Safety and Security, which is more organized than Gallaudet and the third most dangerous Chowan University in North Carolina.
Keene State College in New Hampshire was the fourth most dangerous college in the United States. Wofford College in South Carolina came in fifth.
The other New York universities on the list include Union College, St. John’s University and St. Bonaventure University. They were the sixth, seventh and eighth most dangerous, respectively.
Rounding out the bottom of the list was Colorado College in Colorado Springs and Central College in Iowa.
Keene State College in New Hampshire, pictured, was the fourth most dangerous college in the United States. Wofford College in South Carolina was fifth most dangerous
Union College campus on January 18, 2021 in Schenectady, New York. It was ranked the 6th most dangerous university in the US.
St. John’s, in particular, had a wide variety of crimes committed on its property between 2018 and 2022, including aggravated assault, robbery and arson.
Attorney Jim Parrish, founder of the Parrish Law Firm, said the levels of violence seen on college campuses were “shocking” and that steps must be taken to keep students safe.
“All academic institutions should take effective security measures to protect students, such as installing CCTV cameras throughout the campus and employing campus security services,” Parrish said in a statement.
He added: “No student should feel unsafe during their studies.”
In particular, since this study only had access to the most recent data through 2022, it was unable to determine whether there were notable spikes in crime during the university protests over Israel’s war in Gaza.
