The L.A. Times recently reported that officials from USC and Occidental have admitted to underreporting sexual assaults — oversights which, critics contend, compromise the safety of students, and undermine a federal law which was put in place to better inform parents and students about violent crimes committed on and near college campuses.
Over the course of the past three years, Occidental neglected to file 24 sexual assault reports, and USC neglected to file 13 reports.
These failures to report violate a law passed by George H.W. Bush in 1990. The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (commonly referred to as the Clery Act) was named after Jeanne Clery, a college freshman who was sexually assaulted and murdered in her college dormitory on the LeHigh University campus in 1986. The law stipulates that any college that receives federal financial aid must compile and report all information they have about crimes committed on or near the college campus. Schools who don’t comply stand to lose federal financial aid funding, and may also be heavily fined.
These reports out of California come at a time when school security is the subject of heated debate. The topic serves as a point of entry into several highly contentious issues, including gun-control legislation and second amendment rights, privacy rights of students, and even ponderings over the potential adverse psychological consequences of students consuming too much violent media, to list just a few.
There have been many stories from around the country in recent months about university campuses amping up security to questionable degrees. The University of Kentucky, for instance, recently installed 2,000 security cameras throughout its campus. Some may say that these measures are too extreme, too invasive. However a study conducted by the Department of Education shows the burglary is the most common crime on and off college campuses. This is followed by aggravated assault and forcible sexual offenses as the top three crimes on college campuses of every size and type nationwide. The University of Kentucky is taking a proactive step in the right direction to help protect their students and their student’s property. Those living in off campus housing, however, may want to take their own steps to ensure their safety. An alarm monitoring system that can alert law enforcement to any emergency is the safest route for students living in group homes around campus where foot traffic is plentiful.
And although they’ve come under scrutiny in recent years, it would appear that things are looking better at Dartmouth. A recent article from their student publication went into detail about some of the sensible security measures taken by Harry Kinne, the school’s Safety and Security director. At the insistence of the school’s Dean Charlotte Johnson, the Safety and Security office now sends out school-wide email blasts (and even follow up email blasts) when any crime is committed on or near campus. While the school has come under federal scrutiny for underreporting in the past, it would seem that they are on the right track now. Some were also alarmed by the fact that the Clery report data that Dartmouth submitted last year showed an increase in sex offenses, liquor law violations, and theft, but the school has maintained that this report reflects more comprehensive data, and doesn’t necessarily reflect an increase in nefarious activities.
Similar measures have been adapted by Cornell University. Kathy Zoner, the police chief for the University, has said that keeping students up to date, and helping to reduce crime wholesale, is more in the spirit of the Clery Act than merely filing reports post de facto.
As colleges throughout the country strive to improve security for their students, uncertainty looms overhead for USC and Occidental. Federal officials have yet to comment on the fiasco. An exact dollar amount has not yet been reached, but it’s anticipated that the colleges will face fines in the 100’s of thousands of dollars — with each individual violation costing as much as $35,000 in fines.
Kate Voss is a student at Michigan State University.
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