CALL FOR COMMUNITY-BASED EDUCATION: The State of Public Safety Issues at Minority-Serving Institutions

This chapter explores public safety issues as they manifest at the nations minority-serving institutions (MSIs), including historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs), and tribal colleges and universities (TCUs). It considers an HSI a Hispanic-enrolling institution. Many scholars conclude that past and current oppression, prejudice, and racism toward indigenous peoples feed into the public safety issues in and around TCUs. Besides substance abuse and nutritional matters, tribal colleges are concerned with HIV/AIDS prevention among indigenous communities and on campuses. American Indian youth are 3.3 times more likely to commit suicide than the national average. Only a small portion of the suicide literature is devoted to indigenous populations. Public safety at minority-serving institutions surpasses mere monitoring of and responding to crime. By identifying best practices and rooting out unsuccessful strategies, they might provide help to other campuses that are dealing with similar issues.