Do you think NIU has a problem with safety? No. I think what we’ve witnessed have been isolated events. This is not a reflection of the safety of our campus.

What would you say to students, and even parents for that matter, if they are worried about the safety of this campus? I think it’s important to remember that we live in a university community within a city. Students have to make sure to take certain precautions but also realize that this is not an unsafe place. I also have confidence in our campus security to do their job.

What can students really do to keep safe on campus? These crimes are crimes of opportunity. Students have to remember that they still live in a city, and that includes taking some basic steps to improve their safety, including not walking alone at night and not being distracted by their phones or MP3 players. It’s important for them to utilize basic precautions they would use in any other area.

These crimes appear to be occurring with some frequency, averaging almost one per week, including as recent as Sunday night. How serious of a problem is this? Whenever anyone is the victim of a crime, it’s serious. However, I still maintain that the DeKalb and NIU communities are safe places. These situations are not the norm for our campus and community.

What do you think are the motives behind these attacks? I’m not sure. Anyone that would engage in this kind of activity has no respect for this community or its people. It’s just very unfortunate and disheartening.

The Student Association plans to distribute a safety flier within the next few weeks. Do you think this is the most effective way to educate students? Yes, the SA, as well as our Department of Public Safety plan to release the flier sometime this week. I think it’s a very effective way to educate students about safety, among other tools. Another way includes forums, which the SA plans to hold [Wednesday] of this week.

How do you respond to claims that only one group of people is committing these crimes? That’s a very narrow view. Crimes are committed regardless of race, age or gender and in this case, these crimes are being committed by people who don’t have a lot of respect for our community.

Do you think there is a problem with race relations on campus right now? I wouldn’t say so. It’s important to move beyond tolerance to a level of understanding around our differences and similarities. It’s also important to continue to increase the dialogue here of what it means to truly be an inclusive community.

Why wasn’t it made public that two of the suspects in the Homecoming incident had been arrested Nov. 2? While the police are in the middle of their investigation, if there is information that’s being withheld, it’s per their professional judgment.

How do you address the perception that the university’s and the University Police’s responses to these incidents have been slow and ineffective thus far? I would disagree. I think we’ve responded very appropriately considering the situations. Our Department of Public Safety has done an excellent job of communicating and I have a great deal of confidence in the way they approach safety. We have three excellent lieutenants that are doing a phenomenal job.

Do you think these crimes are just more noticeable because they’re taking place over a condensed period of time? I think so. When you have multiple instances like this, that can be the case. But if you go back and look at our Clery Report, we still have lower rates of crime than other state campuses.

How are the University Police and DeKalb Police working together to help prevent and solve these crimes? That’s more a question for those specific organizations. I can tell you, however, that I spoke with [DeKalb Police Chief] Bill Feithen recently and he said that even though we have seen a number of these incidents recently, the number of robberies overall is down this year compared to last.