Clery Act was passed to protect college students

On April 5, 1986, freshman college student, Jeanne Clery, was found dead in her Lehigh University dorm room. She had been raped, sodomized, beaten, strangled, and attacked with a broken bottle.

Her assailant, Joseph Henry, a sophomore and part-time maintenance worker at the university, was unknown to her. He was convicted of first-degree murder and spent fifteen years on death row. In 2002, his sentence was vacated due to faulty jury instructions during the penalty phase of the trial. He is now serving a life sentence.

Henry had no difficulty gaining access to Clery’s room. He simply walked through three propped-open doors, which were supposed to have been locked, and into her room with the intent to burglarize it. No one asked who he was or why he was there.

In the four months prior to her death, there were 181 reports of propped-open doors in Stoughton Hall, Clery’s dorm. Approximately 38 violent crimes were committed in the three years preceding the tragic event. No crime alerts or security and safety tips had been issued to the students on campus.

Clery’s parents, Connie and Howard Clery, were surprised to learn that, until 1988, only approximately 4 percent of colleges and universities reported crime statistics to the FBI, prospective and current students, and their parents. Through their rage, her parents focused their energies to enacting state and national laws requiring colleges and universities to provide current and prospective students and employees complete information about violent campus crimes, drug and alcohol offenses, and security procedures in place.

The Clerys’ untiring efforts to pass legislation resulted in the Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act, now known as the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act; in short, the “Clery Act of 1990.” There have been three amendments since it was first enacted by Congress, in 1992, 1998, and 2000.

Colleges and universities across America are required by law (Clery Act) to “forewarn and forearm” prospective students, current students, and employees about crime on and around campus. All university applicants, students, or employees can, on request, obtain the university’s current crime statistics for the past three years, and a location map of where the crimes on or near campus are occurring. A university crime log must also be maintained, updated, and when requested by members of the public, readily available to them.

In 2002, statistics from across the nation included 77 university-related murders, 3,601 forcible rapes, 149 nonforcible rapes, and 7,846 counts of aggravated assaults. These figures are down from those reported in 2000 of 914 university-related murders, 5,661 forcible rapes, 1,815 nonforcible rapes and 28,217 counts of aggravated assault.

North Lake College’s statistics, posted on the Web site, reported the following to the Department of Education in 2002: 1 robbery, 1 aggravated assault, 1 burglary, and 2 motor vehicle thefts.

Since the nationally aired radio prank on North Lake’s campus during Dr. Linda Long’s speech class in October 2004, Student Government officers and student journalists of our campus newspaper have been looking into North Lake’s security procedures and safety awareness programs for students and employees. Serendipitously, a team of fellow journalism students at Southern Methodist University, University of North Texas, and Texas Christian University wrote an article in the Fort Worth Weekly, dated Dec. 1, 2004, titled “Insecurity on Campus.” (You may obtain a copy of the article at www.fwweekly.com/issues/2004-12-01).

The team researched and reported on colleges and universities across the state of Texas and their compliance with the Clery Act. Their research endeavors included the Dallas County Community College District, and your officers are following up on the data supplied.

This semester, your Student Government has undertaken the project of informing and empowering everyone who either attends classes and/or works on our campus on personal safety awareness. We are forming partnerships with the campus Police Department, the News-Register, and the North Lake Faculty Association to implement comprehensive programs directed toward this goal.

This is to not only to help you protect yourself while here but, ultimately, to enable you to protect yourself either at home, work, or in the general public arena. Our efforts will not guarantee that you will not become a victim at some time in your life.

This will, however, make the odds greater that you won’t.