# Law&Order:SVU and Hudson University **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [December 13, 2023, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-order-svu-and-hudson-university/994516 "2023-12-13T01:10:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![EnolaStraight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@EnolaStraight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EnolaStraight)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2023, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-order-svu-and-hudson-university/994516/1 "2023-12-13T01:10:32Z")
It seems every other episode of Special Victims Unit involves some student being sexually assaulted at Hudson. Aren’t the Faculty and Student Body concerned their campus is being portrayed as being such a dangerous place to attend? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2023, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-order-svu-and-hudson-university/994516/2 "2023-12-13T01:15:27Z")
FYI, Hudson University is fictional, though if you think of Columbia University or New York University, you might be thinking of something similar. And, BTW, it was a location in the original Law & Order series as well. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2023, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-order-svu-and-hudson-university/994516/3 "2023-12-13T01:52:46Z")
The various L&O’s change enough details about any real world story they base an episode off of to avoid lawsuits. Plus they have that disclaimer. Hudson University does not exist, and while it bears a strong resemblance to Columbia, it could stand in for any NY university. Also only a small percentage of SVU episodes use Hudson U. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2023, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-order-svu-and-hudson-university/994516/4 "2023-12-13T01:54:52Z")
Note that Olivia Benson’s fictional biography does mention an actual college, Siena College in Albany. I worked there for many years. ---
**Author:** ![EnolaStraight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@EnolaStraight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EnolaStraight)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2023, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-order-svu-and-hudson-university/994516/5 "2023-12-13T02:14:00Z")
As a South Jersey boy originally from Philly, I…was ignorant of the fictional status of the university. 🥵 ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2023, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-order-svu-and-hudson-university/994516/6 "2023-12-13T02:15:35Z")
It’s only going to get worse when they finally open that satellite campus in Cabot Cove. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2023, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-order-svu-and-hudson-university/994516/7 "2023-12-13T02:17:43Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Note that Olivia Benson’s fictional biography does mention an actual college, Siena College in Albany. And what college wouldn’t be proud to claim as an alumna someone who has put so many sex-offenders away! (ie - no harm for a real life college when it’s put in a positive light by an on-screen character) ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2023, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-order-svu-and-hudson-university/994516/8 "2023-12-13T02:32:36Z")
Hudson University is also the alma mater of Dick Grayson. Seriously. Back in the late 60s, when Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams took over the Batman comics, they largely wrote Robin out of the series by sending Dick off to college. Hudson University was where he went. During the period that Robin was in residence, the place was a lot safer! ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2023, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-order-svu-and-hudson-university/994516/9 "2023-12-13T02:34:42Z")
Pretty much every time a university is portrayed on a television show (or movie) it’s given a fictional name. _The Big Bang Theory_ was a noted exception, since Cal Tech - where the characters worked, for those who didn’t watch - is a very real place. Although the way it was run conformed only to television logic. But no sexual assaults ever occurred there, solved or not. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2023, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-order-svu-and-hudson-university/994516/10 "2023-12-13T02:42:04Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > But no sexual assaults ever occurred there, solved or not. What about when Dr. Ramona Nowitzky kissed Dr. Sheldon Cooper without his consent? ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2023, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-order-svu-and-hudson-university/994516/11 "2023-12-13T02:48:14Z")
FWIW, Mercy Hospital, the hospital of choice for Law and Order SVU victims, is also fictional. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2023, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-order-svu-and-hudson-university/994516/12 "2023-12-13T03:57:04Z")
But the paper coffee cups are real, right? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2023, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-order-svu-and-hudson-university/994516/13 "2023-12-13T04:22:35Z")
I thought they never actually said Cal Tech. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2023, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-order-svu-and-hudson-university/994516/14 "2023-12-13T04:28:47Z")
Caltech [seems proud of](https://filming.caltech.edu/caltech-hollywood#:~:text=The%20Big%20Bang%20Theory%3A%20The,of%20the%20Caltech%2Downed%20residences) its connection to The Big Bang Theory and other TV/film productions, and to actually encourage filming on its campus. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2023, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-order-svu-and-hudson-university/994516/15 "2023-12-13T06:03:38Z")
Who would send their kids to Hudson U? The place is full of murderers and rapists. Even more than you’d find at a real university. ---
**Author:** ![EnolaStraight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@EnolaStraight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EnolaStraight)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2023, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-order-svu-and-hudson-university/994516/16 "2023-12-13T16:03:44Z")
It just occurred to me… Would the _fictional_ faculty and student body in the L&O universe be concerned about how dangerous their college be? Like shrewd, knowledgeable tourists who would wisely pass on a vacation to Cabot’s Cove, a prospective student or professor may avoid Hudson like the plague. Public Records are available to be put under scrutiny regarding things of this nature, yes? ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2023, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-order-svu-and-hudson-university/994516/17 "2023-12-13T16:43:46Z")
I remember seeing a calculation of the murder rate in Midsomer County (assuming it was a county with 500k people) and it was only slightly higher than that for England as a whole. But of course the murder rates in a rural county would be much lower than more urbanized ones I guess, so the 20-25 murders a year was way too high. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2023, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-order-svu-and-hudson-university/994516/18 "2023-12-13T18:28:43Z")
There was an episode (IIRC) where Benson confronted Hudson’s president about the school’s failure to control sexual misconduct on campus. ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2023, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-order-svu-and-hudson-university/994516/19 "2023-12-13T18:39:45Z")
At least Hudson University doesn’t jump off the screen as abviously fake filler as much as when they deliver lines straightfaced like “I just checked the victim’s FaceSpace page…” ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2023, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-order-svu-and-hudson-university/994516/20 "2023-12-13T18:46:57Z")
“BeFriends” page was used a few times in the original L&O if I recall correctly [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-order-svu-and-hudson-university/994516.md?page=2)