I live in Waxhaw and know USC pretty well. Waxhaw is basically a crime-free hamlet south of Charlotte, while USC is a nice campus, but it’s surrounded by an absolute ghetto. Every time Columbia tries to clear and upgrade the area around the campus, the blacks cry gentrification and the movement shuts down.
I know the area she was staying in and it is NOT safe, but I understand her naivety due to how halcyon Waxhaw is.
Thank you for the extended information.