As college campuses gear up to welcome incoming freshman and begin a new year in Pennsylvania, your mind may wander to campus crime. While most campuses do an excellent job of preventing serious crime, there are still those that happen. It would not be smart to blindly believe your campus is 100% safe. In fact, there is one type of crime that continues to plague campuses: hate crimes.
According to The Chronical of Higher Education, hates crimes are on the rise at schools across the country. FBI data shows a rise for the past three years. In 2015, there were 194 hate crimes on college campuses and by 2017, that number was almost 280.
The majority of victims were black, but anti-Semitic crimes are on the rise. Most crimes involve property destruction. Even though most crimes did not include physical violence, that risk is still there, especially when someone has enough anger to act out in any manner. This can lead to students feeling unsafe and not secure on campus, including in their personal dorm rooms.
Collecting data on such crimes is not easy, so these figures are not completely accurate. There are likely many more instances that go unreported or that are not passed on from campus security. Regardless, even one hate crime is one too many. Stopping such crimes means trying to get to the heart of the hate, which is never easy. We have yet to do that as a society. IN the meantime, you should watch out for and report hate crimes you see at your school. This information is for education and is not legal advice.