Dr. Robert Scott, Adelphi University president, wrote this letter to Mayor Robert Lewis and the board of trustees regarding the proposed dormitory on Adelphi's Garden City campus.

After listening carefully to the concerns brought forth by some of those residents of Garden City who attended the Jan 10 public hearing for the Village of Garden City Board of Trustees, I thought it might be helpful to express the university's perspective in hopes of fostering a greater understanding about the issues presented.

In discussion about Adelphi's increasing enrollment of better-prepared students, some residents wondered who are these students and from whence they come. While our students hail from 40 states and 53 countries, many of our new and better-prepared students are coming from our local communities.

In fact, I am delighted to note that for fall 2000 and fall 2001 combined, 43 of Adelphi's newly enrolled freshmen and transfer students reside in the Village of Garden City and its vicinities of Stewart Manor and Garden City South. This represents more than a 50 percent increase in enrollment from these towns when compared to fall 1998 and 1999.

Some of our neighbors commented about campus and community safety. You may recall that several years ago, in the mid-90s, USA Today conducted a survey on campus safety and rated more than 400 college campuses nationwide. In this survey, Adelphi was rated number one - the safest campus in America! Today, one needs only to review the safety statistics of Adelphi University and compare them to other national and regional colleges to see that Adelphi is still one of the safest campuses in the country. The United States Department of Education requires through the Cleary Act that all colleges receiving federal funding file an annual security report made available to the public in hard copy and on the Internet at www.ope.ed.gov/security/. Copies of the security report from Adelphi and from other local colleges are included.

While Adelphi, like all college campuses, has its share of disciplinary cases, we continue to have an impressive safety record, attributed in part to the safe community in which we reside, to the fine supportive working relationship we have with the Garden City Police and Fire Departments and to the unwavering commitment of our professional staff to guide each student to develop as responsible citizens, both on campus and in the community.

Adelphi remains committed to the Village of Garden City and to extending our educational and cultural opportunities beyond the borders of our campus, to our neighbors. Each academic year on campus is alive with cultural opportunities - plays, dance performances, art exhibitions and noted guest speakers - events open to and frequently attended by our Garden City neighbors. We will continue to be good partners and responsive neighbors to the residents of Garden City.