Our Lady of the Lake University is ranked No. 20 among the safest college campuses in Texas, according to the 2017 Safest College Campuses ranking by Niche.com.
Based on data from the U.S. Department of Education, as well as feedback from student surveys, Niche.com also ranked OLLU as the second safest campus in San Antonio, behind the University of the Incarnate Word, which is ranked No. 19 in the state.
Niche used several criteria to formulate its ranking, among them: the rate of nonsexual crimes committed on campus per 1,000 students, incidents of Residence Hall dating violence per 1,000 students and incidents of Residence Hall rape per 1,000 students.
In 2015, the OLLU police department had zero reports of violent crimes, such as murder and manslaughter, and only one incident of robbery. After the robbery case was investigated, the case was deemed unfounded.
OLLU Police Chief Ramon Zertuche attributes a range of factors to low incidents of campus crime — from officers who patrol the university on foot, on bicycles and in vehicles to quick response times and a thorough investigation of calls for service and suspicious activities.
“It takes a community to be proactive in reporting anything that seems out of place,” Chief Zertuche said. “At OLLU, our community members take pride in being responsible stalwarts for safety and security.”
Lura A. Reyna, a 2017 graduate, says the OLLU ranking for campus safety squares with her personal experience. “I lived on campus all four years and there was not one instance where I felt unsafe,” Reyna said. “On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the safest, my experience was a 10. Campus police was on patrol 24/7. So if any issue or problem arose, they were there to handle it.”
At No. 20, OLLU ranked ahead of four local, four-year schools: St. Mary’s University (No. 42), the University of Texas at San Antonio (No. 44) and Trinity University (No. 51). Texas A&M-San Antonio does not appear on the Top 60 list of safest campuses in the state.