The document discusses expanding the Jeanne Clery Act to better protect students from sexual assault. Currently, the Act only requires universities to disclose crimes that occur on campus, leaving out assaults that happen off campus even if the victims are enrolled students. Most students live off campus, so the Act fails to capture accurate crime statistics. Expanding it to include all enrolled students, whether on or off campus, would better inform students and society about the true extent of sexual assault around universities. However, some experts argue the Clery Act has not reduced campus crime as intended. Improving safety programs may better help students than just publishing crime statistics.

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Marsielle Mcbeam
English 102-022
Teresa M. Pershing
FFN Argumentative Essay
November 21, 2014.
Protecting Students On and Off Campus: Expanding The Jeanne Clery Act
On Friday September 26, 2014, two local women were raped near the West Virginia
University campus. It was uncertain whether these women were enrolled students, and even if
they were, the university would not have pursued any actions because there is no legal
requirement to do so. The Jeanne Clery Act is a federal law that is implemented throughout
colleges and universities in the United States that requires universities to disclose information
about crimes occurring on campus and certain related facilities. The Clery Act has loopholes that
allow universities to only focus on rape and sexual assaults that occur on campus. This has
created a persistent issue with gathering accurate crime statistics around college campuses and
towns. According to “Campus Violence White Paper”, which details crime statistics concerning
campus violence, approximately 20-25% of college women are projected to be the victims of
attempted rape or completed rape during their college careers (Carr). Rape is defined as the
crime of forcing another person to submit to sex acts, especially sexual intercourse (Stedman’s
Medical Dictionary). Since 1990, when the Jeanne Clery Act was signed into action, campus
safety has been an increased concern of the federal government (Janosik). Rape and assault on
campus are very dangerous but disclosure of this information can blemish the reputation of the
university. Because college campuses are not currently required to report those crimes that occur
off campus, the log can be somewhat misleading. Due to the brand reputation that colleges have
to maintain, they are reluctant to report incidents that are not required to be disclosed. The Clery
Act covers nearly all areas of crime that students face on campus; however, this research paper is

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specially aimed at highlighting the importance and effectiveness of this act in protecting against
sexual assault and improving it by expanding protection not only to on-campus students, but to
all who are enrolled. I argue that The Jeanne Clery Act should be extended to cover all enrolled
students who are raped or sexually assaulted on and off college campuses to better serve its
purpose to inform society about rape and sexual assaults that occur on college campuses.
The rape of Jeanne Clery highlighted the need for a law that would show the statistics of
crime and emphasize sexual assaults on campus. The Act was proposed by the parents of Jeanne
Clery, a victim of rape and murder in her residence hall at Lehigh University on April 5th, 1986.
President Bush signed the Jeanne Clery act into law on November 1990. It became the first piece
of federal legislation specifically designed to provide public access to campus-crime information.
The Family Educational Right and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) was introduced to give
students the right to access their educational records, challenge their accuracy, and prevent their
release to outside parties. It was amended as a small piece of Student Right to Know, Crime
Awareness, and Campus Security Act (CSA, also known as Jeanne Clery Act). The amendment
requires all post- secondary institutions to include disclosure of an annual security report with
crime statistics and security police. It also demands disclosure of timely information through
public crime logs and warnings issued about ongoing threats to the health and safety of the
campus community. Finally it guarantees protection of certain basic rights for both the accused
and accuser in sexual assault cases adjudicated by the campus disciplinary procedures (Fisher,
Sloan 33-35) (Katel 99). The logs must contain the time, the date, the nature and the general
location of the incident; it must be kept for seven years (Senat). An institution failure to disclose
accurate statistics on crime may lead to a $25,000 fine (Harshman, Puro, Wolff 14) (Katel 99).
Jeanne Clery’s parents’ response to rape and sexual assault has made a significant initial

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impression to campus crime however, the Clery Act needs to be updated and expanded. It is out
of date, the amendments were made years ago and the changes of society make the Clery Act not
relevant to the present situations.
Some parts of the Clery Act must be improved for continued effectiveness. In a study by
Peter Katel, who specifically focus on the general response from the public in regarding the
impact of the Clery act on safety, “Experts say it is hard to prove that the law has had a direct
influence on the incidence of crime against college students.” In fact, the largest percentage
(48% ) of respondents, cited a lack of knowledge about whether the Clery Act has an effect on
reducing crime on campus. A similar number (47%) of respondents perceived no reduction in
crime resulting from the requirements of the Clery Act. Five percent believe that a reduction in
crime has resulted from The Clery Act (Gregory and Jansoik 56). The Clery Act is not doing a
sufficient job of protecting students on campus. Of all the respondents, the majority believed that
the Clery Act has no effect on crime on campus. If the Clery Act was doing its job, then the
number of respondents who believe that there is a reduction in crime would be higher. One
reason for uncertainty is that colleges are required to report crimes that have occurred on or near
campus. According to Mary Friedrichs, Director of College Office of Victim Assistance at
University of Colorado at Boulder, “The vast majority of students live off campus and most
things happen in residencies. But what happens to students in neighborhoods in Boulder is not
necessarily Clery – reported.” This suggests that a lot of rape and sexual assault occurs off
campus. The Clery Act claims to protect students but it is neglecting off campus interactions
because it requires the reporting of only on-campus crime (Scribner, et al.). This is significant
because a majority of students spend their college years off campus. The Columbus Dispatch
analysis of Clery data found that at 72% of schools with on campus housing, less than half of

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their students live on campus. According the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics’ National Crime
Victimization Survey, about 30% of all violent crimes happen in or near a victim’s home
(Albrecht, 12). At colleges where most students live in dorms, “their Clery numbers are going to
look a lot higher,” (Peter Katel 101). These colleges would appear more dangerous, because
most crime occurs on campus and is Clery reported. On the other hand, colleges that do not have
much campus housing would have more crime occurring off campus, which results in less Clery
reporting. The Clery reporting for off campus schools makes them seem safe, when they actually
may be unsafe. This inaccuracy betrays the purpose of the Clery Act.
The perception of colleges and their safety for students can be misleading not only to
people who are aware of the Clery act but also to students. The Journal of College and
University Student Housing issued an article by Dennis E. Gregory and Steven M. Janosik who
did research and found information on how respondents perceive campuses and the community
surrounding the campus as being safe. Ninety-seven percent said it was safe or very safe and
three percent said was unsafe or very unsafe. They found the same results for the community
surrounding the campus (54). As expected, universities are perceived to be safe places. However,
there is a potential problem with this statement. There is a large group that believes that they are
not at risk because they do not consider themselves in danger. These perception causes problem
for persons who are at risk because it makes the campus seem safer than it actually is.
The people at risk for rape and sexual assaults might not be best helped by the Jeanne
Clery Act but would most likely be helped by different programs that are implemented.
According to Gregory and Janosik, while numbers could certainly be higher, it does appear that
campus safety materials and programs provided for students were perceived to be more effective
in changing behavior than the crime statistics data found in mandated reports (55). This could

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result from the public only being informed about a fraction of violations actually occurring. For
example, About Campus published an article that mentioned in 1998, incidents were only
reported when a student was arrested for a violation (Harshman, Puro, Wolff 15). According to
the Harshman, et al:
Under both the student development system and the Clery act mandates, crimes
are reported and various campus constituencies are notified. Under the Clery Act
requirements, the focus is on the reporting; under the student development process
facilitated by campus personnel, the reporting is a by-product of an effort to
facilitate student learning. The latter process centers on the student and his or her
relationship to its constituents, where as the process mandated by the Clery Act
focuses on the reporting of the incidents, quite possibly at the expense of students
and the educational process (17).
Now the regulations require institutions to report violations in situations where there was either
an arrest or disciplinary referrals (Harshman, Puro, Wolff 15). This will raise the number of
overall reported incidents on campuses and hopefully give the students and surrounding
community a better idea about the safety of the area they live in.
An alternative could be that campuses truly are as safe as they seem. S. Daniel Carter,
Director of Public Policy Security on Campus, wrote a column for CQ Researcher in which he
stated, “The US Department of Justice reports that between 1994 and 2004 there was a 30% drop
in property crime, a 9% drop in violent crime and a 5% increase in base pay for campus police.
The Clery Act has helped instructions realize the priority of placing public safety before public
relations” (Katel 113). If this were true, then universities would not need to hide certain statistics
about crime and sexual assault to uphold their university.

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Some students have taken the initiative to draw more attention to rape and sexual assaults
on campus than others. Vanessa Grigoriadis, author of “Meet the College Women Who Are
Starting a Revolution against Campus Sexual Assault” helped to draw awareness as she
mentioned in her article Emma Sulkowicz, Sarah Yee and Zoe Ridolfi-Starr. Sulkowicz, also
known as mattress girl, went public about her rape by lugging around a mattress. Sarah Yee and
Zoe Ridolfi-Starr wore the same outfits as the nights they were attacked. The students were
successful with drawing attention and spurring conversation about sexual assaults on campus. So
far they are unsuccessful with any legal changes from the authorities but they still intend to spark
a national flame concerning sexual assault and rape. Raising awareness is one important purpose
of the Clery Act to be achieved within the higher education community. It is important for
professionals to work with campus police, judicial officers and other campus constituencies to
find ways to continue to make campuses safer (Gregory & Janosik 53). Cooperation between
many parties is necessary to keep not only students on campus safe, but for all enrolled student to
be kept safe, much more collaboration would be required. It may be a challenging feat but the
safety of students on and off campus is invaluable.
The cooperation of universities to improve this situation is completely required. However
the issue must be brought to attention before it can be fixed. One reason the frequency of sexual
assault on campuses continues to be high is that schools are in denial about the scope of the
problem, says advocates and victims. “Universities tend to have fragmented reporting channels
rather than a centralized system where a student knows to come to,” said Sarah Dunne, Legal
director of The American Civil Liberties Union of Washington (Smith, Voo). Part of this is
because of the diversity of housing situations. Fisher and Sloan, authors of Campus Crime:
Legal, Social, and Policy Perspectives, state the following:

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“… living in an apartment or complex in a more socially disorganized
neighborhood is more likely to be associated with increased criminal
victimization because of the anonymous nature of apartment living. Students in
an apartment often move from year to year, change roommates, spend a great deal
of time away from their residence, and as a results, may be leaving their residence
and possessions unguarded. These neighbor hoods are also less able to utilize
effective crime prevention efforts because residences do not know each other or
who should be hanging around the complex and who should not. As such, routine
activities theory would posit that students living in dorms on campus should
experience an insulated effect with crime, while students living off campus would
encounter more crime in criminal victimization.”
With off campus housing comprising of many of these “socially disorganized neighborhoods”, it
is easy to see why reporting incidents can be so fragmented. Alternatively, fewer reports occur
than assaults committed because schools do not benefit from recording this information. There is
a built-in disincentive for schools to acknowledge the frequency of campus rape (Smith, Voo 1)
because schools benefit more from concealing information than they do from releasing it. There
are at least three reasons for this. First, shrouding information on campus crime in disciplinary
boards effectively makes those crimes disappear for purposes of the CSA. Second, by burying
information within university disciplinary boards, schools are able to deny awareness of crime on
campus. By denying the existence of crime, schools may be able to insulate themselves from tort
liability. Third, by avoiding disclosure of potentially protected information, school avoid the risk
of violating the mandates of Buckley and, there by losing millions of dollars in federal aid
(Gregory and Janosik 29). Reporting of rapes statistics is contrary to the need to present the

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campus as a safe, attractive place for potential students (Smith, Voo 3). This is a prominent
problem with underreported rapes and sexual assaults and there is a need for change.
The Clery Act, while well intentioned and successful in achieving some of it goals, is not
effective at reducing campus safety concern. In 1990, Congress passed and President George H.
W. Bush signed into law the landmark Student Right to Know and Campus Security Act of 1990
(also known as the Jeanne Clery Act) (Fisher, Sloan 3). This officially made campus crime an
issue of national concern. For a change on this level of impact to university campuses to occur
again, national attention would have to be brought to the expansion policies. Researchers, also
authors of Sexual Assault on Campus: A Multilevel, Integrative Approach to Party Rape, from
Indiana University cover different demographic groups and party rape from a large Midwestern
research university. According to Armstrong and others, in order to see some changes there have
to be programs implemented to combat sexual assaults. The current ones focus primarily or even
exclusively on education. Sexual assault on campus should target all levels, constituencies, and
processes simultaneously. The efforts to educate both men and women should indeed be
intensified but they should be reinforced by changes in the social organization of student life
(Armstrong, Hamilton, Sweeney 496). These and other programs can be put into practice on
many individual college campuses, but for a nation-wide law, Congress has the only authority to
make the change.
The Clery Act was passed and amended by Congress on different occasions to help
improve the Act and make it more applicable. Now it is time for Congress to again update the
Clery Act to better protect all college students. While this is true, there is much more left to be
done. The Jeanne Clery Act has saved millions of potential victims but with revision it could
save millions more. For example, the Clery Act would cover the assaults in Morgantown on

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September 26, 2014, if the victims were indeed students, because the incidents occurred close
enough to campus. It is going to take a group of people, including students and parents, such as
the family of Jeanne Clery or the victims of the Morgantown crimes, to draw the attention of the
administration or a group who has the authority to expand the Jeanne Clery Act to cover all
enrolled students on and off campus. The Clery Act needs to be expanded to cover all crimes that
involve all enrolled students both on and off campus. With a dedicated group of individuals, I
foresee this expansion being put into play within the near future of 20 years.

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Work Cited
Albrecht, Eric. “Reports on College Crime are Deceptively Inaccurate.” The Columbus Dispatch.
The Columbus Dispatch, 30 Sept. 2014. Web. 28 Oct. 2014.
Armstrong, Elizabeth A, Laura Hamilton and Brian Sweeney. “Sexual Assault on Campus: A
Multilevel, Integrative Approach to Party Rape” Social Problems 53.4 (2006):483-499.
Print.
Carr, Joetta L. "Campus Violence White Paper." Journal Of American College Health 55.5
(2007): 304-319. Academic Search Complete. Web. 17 Oct. 2014.
Fisher Bonnie S. and John J Sloan, III Campus Crime; Legal, Social, and Policy
Perspectives. Springfield: Charles C. Thomas, 2013. Print
Gregory, Dennis E and Steven M. Janosik. “The Views of Senior Residence Life and
Housing” Journal of College and University Student Housing 34.1 (2006): 50-57.
Print.
Gregory, Dennis E., and Steven M. Janosik. "The Clery Act: “How effective is it?
Perceptions from The Field – The Current State of The Research and
Recommendations For Improvement.” Jurimetrics Journal 10.2 (2002): 7-59.
JSTOR. Web. 20 Oct. 2014.

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Grigoriadis, Vanessa. “Meet the College Women Who Are Starting a Revolution against
Campus Sexual Assault” New York Magazine 22 September 2014: Page. Print
Goldburg, Michelle. “Campus Rape Crisis; The System is broken. Can it be fixed?” The
Nation, 23 June 2014: 12-16. Print.
Harshman, Ellen, Steven Puro, and Lori A. Wolff. “The Clery Act Freedom of Information at
Cost to Students?” (July – August 2001): 13-18. About Campus. Web. October 21st 2014.
Katel, Peter. “Crime on Campus; Are Colleges Doing Enough to Keep Students Safe?” 21.5
(2011): 97-120. CQ Researcher. Web October 20, 2014.
"rape." The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary. Houghton Mifflin Company. 06
Nov. 2014. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/rape>.
Scribner,Richard A, Karen E. Mason, Neal R. Simonsen, Katherine Theall, Jigar Chitolia,
Sandy Johnson, Shari Kessel Schnieder, and William Dejong. “An Ecological
Analysis of Alcohol- Outlet Density and Campus- Reported Violence at 32 U.S.
Colleges” Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs 71.2 (2010) 184-191. Print.
SENAT, JOEY. "Clarifying The Clery Act On Campus Crime." Quill 101.3 (2013): 27.
Academic Search Complete. Web. 17 Oct. 2014.

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Smith. Carol, and Lee Van Der Voo. “Colleges ‘In Denial’ About Campus Sexual assault
Problem, Advocates say.” Investigate West. Investigate West, 23 February 2014. Web.25
October 2014.