Under the Clery Act, all colleges that have federal financial aid programs, whether big or small, private or public, are required to record crimes that happen on campus.
In the report, which is easily accessible to everyone, there is a section for various crimes committed on campus in student housing and a
“on campus — other” section which shows crimes committed anywhere on campus that is not in student housing.
“According to Clery, we need to report the crimes we know about that meet the very speci c geographic de nitions included within Clery’s requirements,” Lindsey Blem, director of Residence Life and Student Conduct said. “Most crimes counted are those reported either to Campus Public Safety or to the Student Conduct Of ce. Clery does not require institutions to report off-campus conduct.”
This law was originally named on behalf of Jeanne Clery who was raped and murdered as a freshman at Lehigh University. The crime was committed by a fellow student in her residence hall in 1986.
The Clery Act, formerly known as Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act, was later signed in 1990.
At Paci c University, the latest crime statistics were released this September. The most notable numbers fell under liquor law referrals, drug law referrals and rape.
As of 2015, liquor law referrals have dropped by 112 referrals since 2013.
Records show 2013 had 234 referrals. Interestingly, drug law referrals have increased from 18 in 2013 to 111 in 2015.
Blem attributes this to the legalization of recreational marijuana in Oregon.
“Marijuana remains illegal under federal law and in order to maintain eligibility for federal funding and nancial aid programs for our students, Paci c policies ban the possession and use of marijuana on campus,” Blem said. “Still, marijuana is becoming more accessible in our state and the number of drug law referrals to our student conduct system show that change.
She also added that if a student comes to the conduct board with liquor and drug law violations, the university is able to decide which violation is listed for the incident.
She says she has observed more incidents involving both alcohol and marijuana since the legalization and says drug law referrals trump liquor law referrals for Clery numbers.
As far as sex crimes go, there were 8 reported rapes last year.
Campus Wellness Coordinator Kathleen Converse acknowledges this number and says it is very tiny in proportion to the amount of sexual assaults that have actually occurred, adding that The Clery Act estimates less than 10 percent of assaults get reported.
“I think what’s important with the Clery reports is that’s not all the sexual assaults that occur on campus, that’s just what ts a legal de nition and is on campus so that doesn’t include things that are off campus, over spring break or non-students,” Converse said. “It’s only a small percentage that ts that description because really what The Clery Act is looking at is the safety of the location, not the overall culture of how many people have experienced or been impacted by sexual violence.”
The number of rapes reported have increased by ve since 2013 and both Blem and Campus Public Safety Of cer Jerry Rice believe it is due to more survivors coming forward and seeking on-campus resources.
“Hopefully this means that Paci c is creating processes that allows those who have experienced these incidents to report them,” Rice said.
Overall, The Of ce of Student Conduct works with Campus Pubilc Safety and others to review and respond to trends related to misconduct and crimes, Blem says.
“Some highlights of initiatives we’ve taken including increasing paraprofessional staff member presence in one campus residence hall, implementing new software to help us better track and enforce sanctions and a renewed focus on consistency and education through our processes.”
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