Violence not an issue on campus, some students say

By Kelly Marino
Staff Reporter

After experiencing the inner-city atmosphere of R.L. Paschal Senior High School, Sarah Hoban, a freshman premajor, said TCU has allowed her to feel much safer while attending school.

“There was a lot of gang violence where I went to high school,” Hoban said. “I feel much safer at TCU because we have actual campus police and a lot of discipline.”

In the wake of two recent school shootings in California, the concern over school violence has resurfaced. Some TCU students, like Matt Turner, a freshman premajor, said they feel safe at TCU because of the size.

“I really felt safe at both Boerne High School and here at TCU,” Turner said. “I chose to come to TCU because of the size of the college and because they had a good program for business majors.”

Greg Hoch, a counselor at Paschal who helps students choose a college, said, for most students, violence wasn’t an issue when deciding what school to attend.

“I don’t think students worry much about violence when deciding where to go,” Hoch said. “Most of the decisions are based on educational issues, and I think in private colleges there is more stability because of the size of the classes.”

Raymond Brown, dean of admissions, said he is a strong advocate of higher learning and said students can receive that education in a small, private college.

“This year we had 5,700 freshmen apply to TCU, but we don’t want to enroll more than 1,500,” Brown said. “We are a university that does not want to grow.”

Jim Henley, sociologist and assistant professor of sociology, said there are a lot of factors that can shape a student’s opinion of what a good college is. There are probably some students who do take violence into consideration but it would surprise him if that was the main concern, he said.

“Violence is probably a concern to some degree, but attending a private college is probably also a security issue for the students themselves,” Henley said.

Kelly Marino
k.a.marino@student.tcu.edu