Website ranks SEMO high nationally as secure campus

Southeast Missouri State University ranks high among colleges nationwide for its campus security, according to BestColleges.com.

The university made the list of 23 schools with top notch safety measures, according to a university news release.

The website compiles its list from crime statistics campuses are required to publish since the Clery Act of 1998.

According to a Southeast news release, Doug Richards, the director of the campus Department of Public Safety, said the ranking is due to the safety measures the university has established over the past several years.

Best Colleges lists the services the university provides that helped it make the list: university police officers offer seminars to discuss sexual assault, armed robbery, vandalism and drug usage; the campus provides emergency call boxes and closed circuit television; measures against dangerous weather include an outdoor siren system in the event of a natural disaster or building evacuation; the police department keeps an updated list of local sex offenders.

Southeast provides emergency text messaging for students, 24/7 police patrols and a campus shuttle system, as well.

Best College's database offers information on more than 7,000 colleges and institutions. The site ranks what it finds to be the best of the best in several categories.

botto@semissourian.com

Pertinent address:

Southeast Missouri State University, Cape Girardeau, MO