Clery Act Compliance
The Clery Act requires all public and private colleges and universities that participate in federal financial aid programs to keep and disclose information about crime on and near their respective campuses. Compliance is monitored by the United States Department of Education, which can impose civil and financial penalties for infractions and can suspend institutions from participating in federal student financial aid programs.
The law is named for Jeanne Clery, a 19-year-old Lehigh University freshman who was sexually assaulted and murdered by another Lehigh student in her campus residence hall in 1986. A brief overview of The Clery Act is listed below.
The Clery Act requires colleges and universities:
- Publish an Annual Security Report by October 1, documenting three calendar years of select campus crime statistics including security policies and procedures and information on the basic rights guaranteed victims of sexual assault. The report must be available to all current students and employees, and prospective students and employees must be notified of its existence and given a copy upon request.
- To have a public crime log. Institutions with a police or security department are required to maintain a public crime log documenting the “nature, date, time, and general location of each crime” and its disposition, if known. Incidents must be entered into the log within two business days. The log should be accessible during normal business hours.
- Disclose crime statistics for incidents that occur on campus, in unobstructed public areas immediately adjacent to or running through the campus and at certain non-campus facilities. The Clery Act requires reporting of crimes in seven major categories: Criminal Homicide, Negligent manslaughter; Murder & Nonnegligent manslaughter; Sex Offenses both Non-Forcible and Forcible; Robbery; Aggravated Assault; Burglary – Under certain conditions; Motor Vehicle Theft and; Arson.
- Schools are also required to report statistics for the following categories of arrests or referrals for campus disciplinary action (if an arrest was not made): Liquor Law Violations: Drug Law Violations; Illegal Weapons Possession.
- Hate crimes must be reported by category of prejudice, including race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and disability. Statistics are also required for four additional crime categories if the crime committed is classified as a hate crime: Larceny/Theft; Simple Assault; Intimidation and; Destruction/Damage/Vandalism of Property.
- Issue timely warnings about Clery Act crimes which pose a serious or ongoing threat to students and employees. Institutions must provide timely warnings in a manner likely to reach all members of the campus community.
- Devise an emergency response notification and testing policy to inform the campus community about a “significant emergency or dangerous situation involving an immediate threat to the health or safety of students or employees occurring on the campus.”
- Compile and report fire data to the federal government and publish an annual fire safety report. Institutions with on-campus housing must report fires that occur in on-campus housing, generate both an annual fire report and maintain a fire log that is accessible to the public.
- Enact policies and procedures to handle reports of missing students. This requirement is intended to minimize delays and confusion during the initial stages of a missing student investigation. Institutions must designate one or more positions or organizations to which reports of a student living in on-campus housing can be filed if it’s believed that student has been missing for 24 hours.
To learn more, download the Clery Act PowerPoint Presentation.
The Lower Merion Police Department has primary law enforcement jurisdiction on campus. View Police crime statistics.
View crime statistics for our campus as well as those across the country.
