Though Georgia Tech's Yellow Jackets enjoyed a win over Clemson Oct. 29, the school suffered a loss in public perception as a result of a robbery that same weekend -- the latest in a string of crimes against students.
A young man was walking near Fifth and West Peachtree streets after midnight Friday when he was punched in the face and his wallet was stolen.
It was the latest in a string of robberies and assaults that have plagued Georgia Tech over the past month, crimes that continue despite efforts by school officials and local police to stifle the trend. There were at least five incidents in October where Tech students and employees were victims, including three assaults against women.
Officials at Tech and other schools have responded to the incidents with stepped-up patrols, courtesy shuttles, self-defense classes and other efforts to educate students about the dangers of in-town living. Yet, Tech students continue to be vulnerable.
Why?
"That’s a very difficult question to answer," said Sgt. Curtis Davenport, an Atlanta Police Department spokesman. "I don’t know if anyone knows why. I do know that we are taking steps to try and prevent [crimes] and arrest those responsible."
Like many of the crimes Saturday's robbery occurred off-campus. Last week a Tech employee was robbed in the Home Park area just north of campus.
But one of three assaults against female students in the past several weeks occurred in the center of campus, by the library, which alarmed senior Christine Lee. "After that, we all went out and got pepper spray," said Lee, 21, a Duluth native.
Students at Tech say crime comes with the territory. "We go to school in downtown Atlanta; there's going to be crime," said Ross Ferguson, 21, an Augusta native training to be a chemical engineer.
Schools are required by the 1990 Clery Law to post crime statistics online and to send out notifications to students when an event occurs on campus.
Ferguson pays attention to those notices, because they demonstrate a pattern that is easily observed: Victims are usually alone and they are usually out late at night. To avoid joining those statistics isn't rocket science, he said: Travel in groups and don't wander around at night. "It's just common sense," he said.
Crime on and around the Tech campus rises and falls. Tech offered statistics to show that certain crimes have dropped significantly in the last three years. Robberies, for example, dropped from 13 in 2008 to three in 2010. This month alone, there have been two robberies and one attempted robbery.
Those with a long-term connection to the school are concerned by the latest string of crimes. An alumni and father said he has a high-school aged daughter who is interested in applying, but he's not so sure he wants to encourage her. "If they don't take some solid (permanent) steps soon, I don't know if I can support her choice," he wrote in an email.
Like other parents, he sees crime on the Tech campus as a problem, no matter which direction the statistics might go. He and other parents want to know whether Tech's 76 uniformed officers and 24-hour patrols can keep their children safe.
The challenge for campus police is two-fold. Students are often impulsive, immature and naive, and urban campuses are frequently placed alongside low-income neighborhoods. "Many of our students had a false sense of security," said Thomas Trawick, chief of police and director of emergency management at Clark Atlanta University.
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