News-Record.com

Qubein reported no big problems but said too many petty crimes have occurred -- car break-ins, for example. "We are going to stop that," he insisted.

How?

Better lighting all over campus.

Prominent security boxes.

Cutting back bushes, especially next to dorms, that could provide hiding places.

Adding security guards.

Painting campus security cars to look exactly like High Point police cars.

Encouraging city police to leave cars on campus when they're not in use.

Having security guards stop and question strangers on campus, and take pictures of them.

Installing hidden cameras "everywhere."

"If it comes down to putting up security gates, we'll do it," Qubein said.

I hope it doesn't come down to that. The HPU campus is open. I jog through it occasionally. In fact, the city greenway runs through the campus.

But openness has a price. If it's too easy for crooks or dangerous people to prowl around on campus, then students aren't safe. If they aren't safe, they won't want to live there.

The university has to find the right balance. Qubein said he wants to make it a destination for visitors, one of the places in High Point that locals show off to out-of-towners. It really is becoming that, with the distinctive Hayworth Fine Arts Building, the Millis Athletic/Convocation Center and other highlights. While I really wouldn't mind being stopped by a security guard and asked a question or two, that might make some people feel unwelcome.

The university lies within a middle-class residential area, bordering on lower middle class. Maybe the more inviting the campus becomes -- and with lots of benches, outdoor tables and chairs, ping-pong tables, even rockers and hammocks, it's pretty inviting -- there's a bit of a risk that it will attract too many outsiders. And a university is there primarily for its students and faculty. It's not a community park.

It's certainly not a place where crime can be tolerated.