CLEMSON, South Carolina (AP) -- The rural community surrounding Clemson University was in a frenzy in late May as authorities searched for a killer who had raped and strangled a 20-year-old student.
With a suspect in custody, life was returning to normal as classes resumed Wednesday. But the brutal slaying is a reminder to students, parents and administrators that just because a college is far from big-city crime doesn't mean it's safe from violence.
Officials at Clemson, a 16,000-student university in the northwest corner of South Carolina, and other schools across the country say they think their campuses are relatively secure -- but they don't take their location for granted.
"It's very important that we realize that, even in Disney World, you have to be careful," said Jeanne Norberg, spokeswoman for Purdue University, which has about 38,000 students in West Lafayette, Indiana. "It just takes a minute."
Virginia Tech locked down its Blacksburg, Virginia, campus earlier this week as police searched for an escaped prisoner. School officials credited technology for their ability to act quickly.
The campus was able to restrict keycard access to its dormitories to residents and used e-mail and phone messages to reach its 26,000 students, said Larry Hincker, associate vice president for university relations.
"In towns like Clemson or Blacksburg, the statistics will tell us they are safer than the big cities," Hincker said. "But we're not immune."
Most Clemson students had gone home for the summer when Tiffany Marie Souers' body was found in her off-campus apartment on May 26, but the case was fresh on their minds Wednesday.
"I heard that people didn't really lock their doors before. Now, everyone around me is being more careful," said sophomore Laura Holladay, 19, who lives in the same apartment complex where Souers lived.
A convicted sex offender, Jerry Inman, 35, was arrested in June in Dandridge, Tennessee, and charged with Souers' murder, rape and kidnapping.
Holladay's mother, Connie, who lives in Memphis, Tennessee, said her worries have subsided some since Inman was arrested.
"Every time your children are away, you worry. Things happen on every campus," said Connie Holladay. "You just have to trust your children."
Josh Lee, a 22-year-old senior who knew Souers, said the school's quick response to the incident helped reassure students. "The university did a great job reacting, and they really have taken a proactive approach," he said.
Students' security has become an even higher priority since Souers' death, Clemson spokeswoman Robin Denny said.
"Increasing our safety presence on campus and also our safety education programs, and making students more aware of them, was something that we did immediately," she said.
Officials at other institutions, whose populations, like Clemson's, often dominate the towns where they are located, say cooperation between campus and local authorities is key.
David Granger, a spokesman at the 23,000-student Auburn University in Alabama, said his school even decided a few years ago to disband its campus police department and turn public safety issues over to the town.
"To a large extent, it was a financial decision, but it was a decision that certainly wasn't made until we felt confident that the security of our students would not be compromised," Granger said.
But there is still danger in complacency. At Texas A&M University, many of the 44,000 students come from large metropolitan areas, spokesman Dean Bresciani said, and "completely let their guard down."
In July, three students died near the University of Wyoming campus in Laramie in what authorities said was a murder-suicide. Police have not yet determined a motive.
Clemson officials are now concentrating on security efforts off campus, and the student government association has helped expand the area's transit service to around-the-clock availability, said senior Stephen Gosnell, president of the group.
"The whole community is really built around the college, but you never really know who's here," he said. "You may feel safe at multiple spots in Clemson, but you really need to keep an eye out."