JACKSON (AP) — Jackson State University confirmed Tuesday that more than two dozen Brazilian students have been pulled from the college in central Mississippi due to concerns over crime.

JSU said in a news release that the Brazilian students were attending the school through the Brazilian Scientific Mobility Program, administered by the Institute of International Education. The university said the organization informed it on Nov. 13 that the group of 27 Brazilian students would be moved to the Savannah College of Art and Design.

A request for comment from the Consulate General of Brazil in Atlanta was not immediately returned.

JSU said one Brazilian student was robbed of a phone at gunpoint Nov. 9. Another student had his backpack stolen from a bench the day before. In July, a Brazilian student had a cellphone grabbed from her hand.

JSU President Carolyn W. Meyers said in the news release that “Jackson State University is concerned with the safety of all of our students, domestic and foreign.”

“As in any urban area, unfortunately there are random acts of violence, sometimes against our students. Please be assured that the university is doing all we can to assure the safety of all on our campus for any purpose at any time,” she said.

Meyers said she personally reviews the daily incident reports. “The university regularly reviews the effectiveness of our safety efforts, the actions of our personnel and safety procedures and protocols. To our knowledge and records, the incidents involving the students visiting from Brazil were random, which does not make these incidents acceptable, nor are they indicative of our campus environment.”

There are currently 280 international students from 60 countries studying at Jackson State.