Some Thoughts on the Clery Act and Campus Security
Stuart Nachbar
June 25, 2009
Campus security was among the education issues that I dealt with in research for Defending College Heights, my new novel. A university provost took me through the process in the event that a murder had been discovered on campus. He took me through the notifications to the police, the family of the deceased (should it be a student) and the news media. We also discussed crime reports, which are mandated by the federal government.
Crime reports are mandated through the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act passed in 1990; it is better know as the Cley Act. The Act was named for a Lehigh University student who was murdered on campus in 1986.
Administered by the Department of Education, compliance with the Clery Act is tied to a college's participation in federally funded student financial aid programs. So, with the risk of losing aid, the Act is taken seriously. In addition, colleges are fined for non-compliance.
Which takes me to a story about Dominican College, a 2,000 student institution in New York State, located not far from the New York/Bergen County, New Jersey border.
An investigation by New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, found that Dominican had under-reported crime statistics in its student handbook for several years, including misreports about sexual assaults on campus. The school was fined $20,000 and ordered to make several changes in their crime reporting procedures. The college's legal counsel said that these changes are underway.
Cuomo“s investigation grew from a complaint by Gloria Allred, lawyer for the mother of a former Dominican student -- Megan Wright -- who was sexually assaulted on the campus in 2006 and later committed suicide. Allred filed a federal lawsuit against the college in 2008, which is still ongoing, and called on the attorney general to investigate the college's crime statistics after identifying a suspicious lack of reported sexual assaults during the time Wright was a student.
In addition to fining Dominican, Cuomo's office sent a letter to all other New York state colleges and universities urging them to review their crime reporting procedures. No doubt the Attorney General's office will find more schools to investigate.
I am not writing to fault the intentions of the Act, or of Cuomo's office. The Clery Act is one of those pieces of legislation that gets passed in any Congress, no matter which party is in power. The Act has, in fact, been amended four times during the previous three presidential administrations to expand reporting, and to better address the issues of sexual assault and sex offenders. Cuomo's office is doing what an attorney general's office is supposed to do: enforce the law.
But I have concerned that while acts such as the Clery Act, while popular and well-intentioned, do not necessarily improve the perception and reality of security on college campuses. Enforcing more reporting requirements may be counter-productive.
The Act does not state where fines will go, but it seems foolish for a state government to collect monies that a college could put into compliance. The Act, if properly enforced, already has sufficient teeth. Unless the Attorney General is trying to recover some of the costs of the investigation (which we don't know in the Dominican case).
I do not call for a repeal of the Act, but to put more responsibility in the hands of students to help reduce campus crimes.
Most campus crimes are crimes against property, the school's and the student's. So, here is a suggestion. Whenever a common area or the structure of a residence hall is damaged, then fine every student who lives there. Damages might range from a broken lock (this, by the way, was one of the reasons that the Clery family took legal action against Lehigh)on the entrance door to broken windows and blasted walls. Put the fines in the next semester's tuition bill. If there is damage to non-residential buildings, such as graffiti on bathroom walls, then fine every student on campus. Even the smallest of fines can add up.
I realize these solutions are along the lines of the "broken window" theory advocated in New York City during the Giuliani Administration, but students need to be taught to respect their school. They cannot be allowed to sow wild oats against inanimate objects. And perception usually dictates that a cleaner campus is also likely to be a safer campus.
Stuart Nachbar writes on thought and fiction in education and politics. His new novel, Defending College Heights, is an investigation into the murder of a U.S. Army recruiter within a tumultuous and corrupt college community. Learn more at www.DefendingCollegeHeights.com
Crime reports are mandated through the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act passed in 1990; it is better know as the Cley Act. The Act was named for a Lehigh University student who was murdered on campus in 1986.
Administered by the Department of Education, compliance with the Clery Act is tied to a college's participation in federally funded student financial aid programs. So, with the risk of losing aid, the Act is taken seriously. In addition, colleges are fined for non-compliance.
Which takes me to a story about Dominican College, a 2,000 student institution in New York State, located not far from the New York/Bergen County, New Jersey border.
An investigation by New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, found that Dominican had under-reported crime statistics in its student handbook for several years, including misreports about sexual assaults on campus. The school was fined $20,000 and ordered to make several changes in their crime reporting procedures. The college's legal counsel said that these changes are underway.
Cuomo“s investigation grew from a complaint by Gloria Allred, lawyer for the mother of a former Dominican student -- Megan Wright -- who was sexually assaulted on the campus in 2006 and later committed suicide. Allred filed a federal lawsuit against the college in 2008, which is still ongoing, and called on the attorney general to investigate the college's crime statistics after identifying a suspicious lack of reported sexual assaults during the time Wright was a student.
In addition to fining Dominican, Cuomo's office sent a letter to all other New York state colleges and universities urging them to review their crime reporting procedures. No doubt the Attorney General's office will find more schools to investigate.
I am not writing to fault the intentions of the Act, or of Cuomo's office. The Clery Act is one of those pieces of legislation that gets passed in any Congress, no matter which party is in power. The Act has, in fact, been amended four times during the previous three presidential administrations to expand reporting, and to better address the issues of sexual assault and sex offenders. Cuomo's office is doing what an attorney general's office is supposed to do: enforce the law.
But I have concerned that while acts such as the Clery Act, while popular and well-intentioned, do not necessarily improve the perception and reality of security on college campuses. Enforcing more reporting requirements may be counter-productive.
The Act does not state where fines will go, but it seems foolish for a state government to collect monies that a college could put into compliance. The Act, if properly enforced, already has sufficient teeth. Unless the Attorney General is trying to recover some of the costs of the investigation (which we don't know in the Dominican case).
I do not call for a repeal of the Act, but to put more responsibility in the hands of students to help reduce campus crimes.
Most campus crimes are crimes against property, the school's and the student's. So, here is a suggestion. Whenever a common area or the structure of a residence hall is damaged, then fine every student who lives there. Damages might range from a broken lock (this, by the way, was one of the reasons that the Clery family took legal action against Lehigh)on the entrance door to broken windows and blasted walls. Put the fines in the next semester's tuition bill. If there is damage to non-residential buildings, such as graffiti on bathroom walls, then fine every student on campus. Even the smallest of fines can add up.
I realize these solutions are along the lines of the "broken window" theory advocated in New York City during the Giuliani Administration, but students need to be taught to respect their school. They cannot be allowed to sow wild oats against inanimate objects. And perception usually dictates that a cleaner campus is also likely to be a safer campus.
Stuart Nachbar writes on thought and fiction in education and politics. His new novel, Defending College Heights, is an investigation into the murder of a U.S. Army recruiter within a tumultuous and corrupt college community. Learn more at www.DefendingCollegeHeights.com