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Campus Safety Sexual Assault Clery Act

The "Clery Act" is named in memory of 19 year old Lehigh University freshman Jeanne Clery who was raped and murdered while asleep in her residence hall room on April 5, 1986. Jeanne's parents, Connie and Howard, discovered that students hadn't been told about 38 violent crimes on the Lehigh campus in the three years before her murder. They joined with other campus crime victims and persuaded Congress to enact this law, which was originally known as the "Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990". The law was amended in 1992 to add a requirement that schools afford the victims of campus sexual assault certain basic rights, and was amended again in 1998 to expand the reporting requirements. The 1998 amendments also formally named the law in memory of Jeanne Clery. The law was most recently amended in 2000 to require schools beginning in 2003 to notify the campus community about where public "Megan's Law" information about registered sex offenders on campus could be obtained.

In March, 2013 President Obama signed a bill that strengthened and reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Included in that bill was the Campus Sexual Violence Elimination Act (Campus SaVE), which amends the Jeanne Clery Act. The changes add categories to the required reporting; requires agreements with local law enforcement; includes language similar to AB 967 regarding the adjudication of cases; requires educational campaigns similar to AB 967.

For COC's Clery Act Disclosure, please visit the Campus Safety website