Students express how safe they feel off-campus. (Photo by Alan Mittelstaedt)

"It is with great sadness that I write to inform you about the tragic passing of one of our engineering graduate students," University of Southern California Provost Elizabeth Garrett wrote in an email to students and faculty Thursday.

The student, who has since been identified as 24-year-old Chinese international student Xinran Ji, was found dead in his apartment at City Park on Thursday. According to a DPS report, Ji walked off-campus around 29th and Orchard, where he was assaulted and beaten by three unidentified suspects. There was a trail of blood that led to his apartment.

SEE MORE: USC Grad Student Found Dead In Apartment Near Campus

This attack conjures up tragic memories of the death of two Chinese international graduate students who were gunned down off campus two years earlier. The victims' parents filed a wrongful death lawsuit against USC, saying that they were misled into believing that the university was ranked among the safest universities. On Halloween, just six months after, four people were wounded in an on-campus shooting. 

As a result, the university has cracked down on safety measures. More surveillance cameras were installed on campus, dorms required a fingerprint scan for entry and 24-hour guards were placed on corners near campus. School officials also restricted nightly public access, and guards checked identification cards of students who enter campus after 9 p.m. 

"I think that USC has improved the general safety near campus," says Dornsife student Jake Moszkowski. "But they can only control so much. I would feel safer if [CSC] were granted the use of firearms."

The security ambassadors from the Contemporary Services Corporation, known colloquially to students as "yellow jackets" or CSC, were introduced to the area north of campus in 2009 to increase student perceptions of safety. However, CSC guards are not trained police officers and have no more power to intervene in a crime situation than any other student bystander.

According to a USC news release, the courts have since determined that the university is not accountable for the international students' deaths in 2012. Yet the recent attack on Ji has some people reflecting on USC's ability to keep its students safe year-round, as opposed to only the fall and spring semesters.  

SEE MORE: Campus Security Is Still An Issue For USC Students

USC is an active campus year-round, even though most students leave during the summer. In addition to summer classes that many students take advantage of, for instance, USC hosts many events such as conferences, new student orientation and most notably, Summer@USC, a college credit program for high school students.

All USC students and Summer@USC students go through a DPS presentation during their respective orientations. But the attack on Ji, who was a summer student, calls into question whether security should be in off-campus areas year-round.

"DPS [often forgets] other areas around campus," says Tiffany Hoa Stevens, an international student from Hong Kong studying at the School of Dramatic Arts. "They need to patrol Vermont [Ave.] more."

SEE MORE: USC Halloween Shooting Suspect Sentenced To 40 Years To Life

As KTLA News reported, the news of Ji's death may discourage parents in China from sending their children to USC. Stevens was quick to point out that there is a difference between international students who grew up in a Western culture and those who grew up in an Eastern culture. 

"For me, I always knew [the USC area] was dangerous," Steven says, "However for people coming from, say, mainland China whose English isn't great, they're not going to know and some may even be naïve." 

Nevertheless, there are some students who still want to attend USC despite the reputation of its surrounding area. Both Emily Lee, an international student from Taiwan studying at the Annenberg School of Journalism, and her parents were aware that the USC area is not always safe. 

"I still applied because it's a great university with many opportunities," says Lee. "My friends from Taiwan who apply to USC also know about the 'bad' area. They just keep in mind to be smart and stay safe." 

At the end of the day, regardless of sentiments or anxieties about safety at USC, a Trojan was lost in the first hours of Thursday morning, and the sadness felt by the Trojan Family is only surpassed by the grief of those who knew him well.

Contact staff reporter Heidi Carreon here and follow her on Twitter here.