SAN ANTONIO – Crime reports at local universities show a higher number of sex crimes reported on some campuses than on others.
KSAT took a look at the 2016 crime reports for 21 area college and university campuses. Universities make the reports available to parents and students each year.
The statistics show a high number of rapes reported at Trinity and St. Mary’s universities in 2016.
Tim Bessler, dean of students at St. Mary’s University, said overall, the campus is safe. He said any incident of sexual assault reported by students is troubling. There were seven on-campus rapes reported last year.
“It’s problematic to have one incident of rape in our campus, in our community,” Bessler said.
GALLERY: See the campus crime report maps here
About 20 minutes away, at Trinity University, there were nine rapes reported in 2016. Sharon Jones Schweitzer, the assistant vice president of external relations, said, unfortunately, sexual assaults happen in all areas of society, including the safest of campuses.
“Sexual assault prevention has always been a priority,” she said. “We're creating an environment where people can come forward and talk about and report on sexual assault.”
St. Mary’s has around 3,300 students; Trinity has around 2,300.
KSAT looked at other area campuses. The University of Texas at San Antonio Main Campus reported six rapes in 2016. UT Health, University of the Incarnate Word and Our Lady of the Lake University each reported one. The remaining schools did not report any sex crimes.
Both Trinity and St. Mary’s said they have made efforts in recent years to increase awareness about sex crimes.
“When you talk about rape, you talk about sexual assault. Those are the hardest crimes for people to come forward to talk about,” Bessler said.
And while the numbers seem large compared to other area schools, he sees them as a positive turn in campus attitudes.
“While I never want to see a rape happening in our community, it's good to know our community feels safe coming forward,” he said.
In late summer, St. Mary’s applied for and was given a $300,000 dollar grant by the Department of Justice's Office on Violence Against Women to reduce domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking on campus. Bessler said the grant will help strengthen the university's efforts to educate students and staff on how to report crimes.
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