Students will be moving to Ann Arbor in the next few weeks and both University of Michigan and private housing officials say they're preparing to help keep residents safe.

Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com

Despite being unfamiliar with the city, Kim Anthony isn’t nervous about her move to Ann Arbor later this month despite the 7 attacks on young women in the past month.

Anthony, a 25-year-old Grand Rapids resident and graduate of Grand Valley State University, is one of the many newcomers to the University of Michigan who will be moving to Ann Arbor for the first time in the next 2 weeks. She said she’s been keeping up on crime news in the city through media outlets but hasn’t been sent anything by university officials notifying her of what’s going on in the city.

Anthony said she’ll probably take the ordinary precautions — not walking alone late at night, being more alert and aware — but she's not going to live in fear.

“I’m still going to live my life the way I do it,” she said. “It’s not going to hinder me from doing what I do. I’ll be more careful at night but I’m not scared.”

The 7th attack on a young woman occurred early Thursday morning when a man appearing to be in his late 50s grabbed a 21-year-old female U-M student by the arm. The incident occurred on Thompson Street near West Quadrangle.

Police said that the attack seems to be unrelated to the previous 6 attacks, which included 2 rapes. A woman was accosted with a knife in late July, but her attacker was arrested on attempted robbery charges shortly after the incident.

Anthony, who is coming to U-M for a graduate program in Middle Eastern Studies, said she’s always thought of Ann Arbor as a safe place, and it seems that reputation has resulted in U-M’s University Housing department hearing few concerns from incoming students.

Peter Logan, spokesman for University Housing, said there have been no requests for new dorm room assignments due to security or safety concerns. In fact, the University Housing office has received very few questions about the assaults or campus’ safety.

“We’re not getting inquiries,” he said. “I’m a little surprised by it because the incidents on or near campus have received national attention, yet it has not created a stir of concern — at least in terms of phone calls to housing.”

Logan attributed that at least in part to the email that university officials sent out on July 27 to current students, faculty and staff regarding the attacks.

When students begin moving into the residence halls during welcome week, which begins on Aug. 28, there will be the same amount of training and education offered to students as usual, Logan said.

He said residents will have hall meetings during that first week where resident advisors will give new residents information on how to keep safe in the dorms, including locking windows and doors, not allowing people to come into the building behind them and making them aware of the security cameras that are in all of the buildings. Residence halls at U-M require a keycard to enter and there are cameras at al exits and entrances to the halls, Logan said.

Housing security staff will also be making door-to-door trips throughout the residence halls to meet students, Logan said. The security guards will provide students information on the emergency blue-light phones stationed throughout campus, give basic safety tips and answer any questions students might have, he said.

“We did, during the course of the sumer, increase the presence and patrol of housing security and (U-M) Department of Public Safety on and around campus and that’s still in effect,” he said.

Logan specifically mentioned a workshop for first-year students put on by the university’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center called Relationship Remix. The workshop will give participants lessons on relationships, sex and decision-making during the fall semester for freshman students in residence halls. For more information about SAPAC’s workshops, click here.

Private apartment buildings in Ann Arbor will also be taking steps to make their tenants conscious about safety as they return to school.

Ashlie Merritt, property manager at Zaragon Place @ The University of Michigan apartments, said she’s going to send out a building-wide email to update residents about the assaults and how to keep safe during the school year.

She said it’s important to keep a balance between making residents informed and scaring them.

“I don’t want to freak people out. It’s on the national news, everyone knows about it,” Merritt said. “I will try my best to make people know what’s happening and make sure they’re safe.”

She said there hasn’t been any detrimental effect on business at Zaragon Place because of the assaults, but the demand for parking has increased.

“The girls don’t want to walk to their cars if they’re parked somewhere else, which makes total sense,” she said. “I’ve tried to accommodate them as much as I can with parking.”

Kyle Feldscher covers police and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.