Award Recipients For 2004

The "Jeanne Clery Campus Safety Award" was established in 1994 by Howard & Connie Clery to honor schools and individuals that have done extraordinary things to make college and university students safer.

Pictured left to right, front row: Marion Thomas, Hanna Vonbehr, Catherine Bath, Executive Director of SOC, Connie Clery, Co-founder of SOC, Melissa Volpe, Kristen Smith, Adam Goldberg. Back row: Muhammad Bah, Professor Ned Eckhardt, Christopher Robinson

This year we awarded the Jeanne Clery Campus Safety Award to Rowan University and Syracuse University We present this award to universities which have gone to extra-ordinary lengths to keep students safe.

At Rowan University we wished to acknowledge the productive 14-year relationship between SOC and the Chair of Radio, TV and Film, Ned Eckhardt, and his film students. (Pictured top right)

Syracuse University Senior Vice President for Human Services and Government Relations Eleanor Ware (right) accepts the 2004 Jeanne Clery Campus Safety Award from Security on Campus cofounder Connie Clery. The award was announced at the Northeast Colleges and Universities Security Association's (NECUSA) annual conference banquet in Syracuse, N.Y.

Across the country there remains a demand for effective educational videos on such important topics as campus safety, binge drinking, acquaintance rape, sexual assault, club drugs, and hazing. The students of the Rowan University College of Communication have accepted this challenge and in doing so have produced five extremely well received videos since 1991. These videos continue to be distributed to many hundreds of requesting colleges across the nation. Because of the efforts of Ned Eckhardt and his students, countless numbers of college students have been educated about the potential dangers that await them at college.

In addition to their terrific efforts in video production, in the spring of 2004, the Rowan University Public Relations senior class, headed by Larry Litwin, devoted a semester of work to developing a comprehensive public relations plan for SOC. The materials the PR group distributed and the content they created was priceless. It was an honor for SOC to have such talented students working on and understanding our organization’s mission.

Syracuse University received the award for maintaining a caring and committed sworn police force patrolling not only the campus but also the surrounding police district. But most commendably, they received the award for demonstrating the highest commitment to their students’ wellbeing by actively encouraging rape victims to report and by providing a 24-hour rape crisis center. Syracuse University was a pioneer in urging students to report their rapes, counseling students, and helping them with programs to prevent rapes. SU continues to set a high standard for universities across the nation.

Our wishes for a safe and productive year!

Connie and Howard Clery