By Emily Neelon |
The federal government recently published new regulations requiring colleges and universities to be more transparent about information on sexual assault and hate crimes. The new rules are part of the Clery Act, a federal law that requires all colleges and universities that receive federal funding to make crime and security information available to the public.
Published on Oct. 20 and taking effect in 2015, the changes to the Clery Act now require:
- Statistics on dating violence, domestic violence and stalking. These three issues will fall among the list of other crimes in UP’s annual report.
- Statistics on the number of reported crimes that are “unfounded”. Unfounded crimes include incidents that have been determined untrue by law enforcement. Based on apprehension that colleges were “unfounding” crimes incorrectly, schools are now required to publish how many of their reports are unfounded to the Department of Education and in their annual security reports.
- Statistics on the number of reported hate crimes that were prompted by a victim’s race or gender identity.
- The list of various sanctions colleges and universities might enforce against perpetrators of sexual violence.
- Statements explaining resources accessible to victims of sexual violence after reporting the incident. These statements must explain the counseling, clinical and protective options available to victims as well as the preventative measures they will take.
The act went into effect following the rape and murder of Lehigh University student Jeanne Clery in 1986. Following her death, the Clery Act was passed to combat the secrecy of unreported crime occurring on many college campuses.
Director of Public Safety Gerald Gregg and his team implemented some of the new requirements in the 2013 Public Safety Crime and Fire Report, released in October.
Among the changes was the recategorization of sex crimes from two separate categories – forcible and nonforcible sex offenses – to one category of sexual assault. Sexual assault encompasses any sexual act or suggestion that is unwarranted.
“We’re constantly watching for information that’s disseminated about the situation of reporting, and we’ll always adopt the best practices that are recommended,” Gregg said. “We really have been watching this closely and have been following developments. We want to be very transparent in our reporting, and we will air on the side of caution in reporting something.”
Taking into account Clery’s new requirements on sexual violence information, Gregg is focusing his efforts on prevention, investigation and support for victims of assault.
Sanctions for perpetrators of sexual violence on campus include warnings, community service hours, holds on student accounts, monetary fines, written reflections, counseling and education to possible suspension or dismissal from the University. Additionally, students living on-campus may face hall probation or recommendation of removal from the hall.
“Dating violence – for me – doesn’t matter if somebody’s been dating three years or three days,” Gregg said. “[It] is inappropriate and shouldn’t happen.”
In an effort to provide help to every student who seeks it, Public Safety teams up with other divisions on campus to combat sexual violence.
“We are certainly [partners] with the Health Center and Residence Life in participating in any programs that could prevent any sort of sexual violence,” Gregg said.
UP is also working to educate students about sexual violence through Green Dot, a prevention and education program that works to promote bystander intervention.
Wellness Education and Prevention Coordinator Kristina Houck believes the key to stopping relationship violence on campus is ongoing education.
“Some of that one-time education only goes so far,” Houck said. “The really important thing is that we have ongoing opportunities. What is it that we as individuals are doing on a regular basis to create a culture on campus where violence is not okay, and it’s clear that each of us is doing our part to prevent it?”
UP reorganized its annual “Life on the Bluff” student conduct handbook to increase clarity about sexual violence and its repercussions for students, including a “stalking” category for the first time in 2013.
Natalie Shank, the associate director for community standards, said Residence Life has done a good job of clearly articulating the types of crimes now required under the Clery Act in this year’s handbook.
“We’ve very much organized things in a way in which we hope students will find the information easy to read and easy to understand, but will also find policies (and) resources,” Shank said.
“Life on the Bluff” articulates two levels of confidentiality, public safety awareness events, safety accommodations and amnesty.
Overall, Houck believes conversations about sexual violence can occur all over campus, from classrooms to club meetings. She said the key to ending this problem is preventing it.
“It goes far beyond complying with federal legislation,” Houck said. “Really our commitment on campus is to prevent it from happening in the first place and the way to do that is to have as many of us as possible demonstrating our commitment to prevention through ongoing conversation and developing skills in way the fit for each of us.” Emily Neelon is a reporter for The Beacon. She can be reached at neelon17@up.edu.
