Aristotle University students decry campus crime

Students at Thessaloniki’s Aristotle University have sent a letter to the school’s rector and the dean of the faculty demanding action against rampant criminality on the campus grounds.

The letter was signed by 471 students and describes a permanent sense of insecurity due to a prevalence of thefts, drugs, prostitution and violence – particularly around the Engineering School – that has become the norm as they try to go about their studies. Two campus deaths have already been attributed to overdoses, while last week a man was stabbed over a drug deal.

Aristotle University Rector Pericles Mitkas has met with city officials and on Monday signed a cooperation pact with the OKANA rehabilitation center in Thessaloniki to try and alleviate the excessive drug problem.

“The notion that anyone can do whatever they want on university grounds must stop,” he told Kathimerini.