<p>Vicariousparent, I think it’s hard to blame any of the concerns you raise on Yale.</p>
<p>The murder last fall (which I assume is what you refer to when you talk about “campus safety”) was not random crime from the supposedly dangerous streets of New Haven. It was committed for what seem likely to be personally motivated reasons by an employee of the university who had nothing in his background to suggest that Yale should be worried. It’s the sort of crime that could happen anywhere, in any workplace. Campus safety has nothing to do with it.</p>
<p>As for the suicide, that was the first suicide at Yale in 11 years. The national suicide rate is 11.1/100,000 (per year). That is, more than one in every 10,000 people commits suicide every year (and the rate is higher among young people). Yale has about 10,000 students (counting grad students), so I’d say 1 suicide in 11 years suggests that Yale is actually doing pretty well in the mental health department.</p>
<p>As for substance abuse, Yale’s alcohol policy actually works quite well for protecting students, by ensuring that they can seek help in a medically dangerous situation without worrying about major personal repercussions. The student who died was using drugs far stronger than alcohol, which are as illegal at Yale as they are anywhere. The notion that appears sometimes (particularly in the YDN comment board), that this tragedy happened because of Yale’s lax alcohol policy is ridiculous. </p>
<p>Vicariousparent, your daughter would be as safe at Yale as anywhere else. We had a bad year this year - but as far as anyone can tell, that was just bad luck. In fact, in some ways Yale is pretty safe - by far the largest cause of death among college age people is motor vehicle accidents. And most people don’t drive at Yale - she’d be in far more danger on a campus where most students had cars.</p>