For Immediate Release
Thursday, November 29, 2001
Morgan State University Accused Of Withholding Campus Crime Information
Victims Rights’ Group Files Complaint With U.S. Dept. of Education
Baltimore, MD-Security On Campus, Inc. a non-profit watchdog and victims rights’ organization today filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education alleging that Morgan State University is in violation of the federal “Jeanne Clery Act” which requires colleges and universities to disclose campus crime information.
Among the key Clery Act violations alleged, copies of a required annual security report were not provided to students and employees automatically by October 1st of this year, and possibly past years, as required by the law; incomplete and inconsistent campus crime statistics have been disclosed by MSU to students on-campus and the U.S. Department of Education; and there has been no campus crime log readily available for public inspection as the law requires.
“These alleged violations were brought to our attention by the family of a young man brutally assaulted on campus in September,” said S. Daniel Carter the Senior Vice President of Security On Campus, Inc. “Concerned about safety on the campus, the family began inquiring about campus crime information and found that their son hadn’t been provided with any of the crime information the Clery Act requires.”
In a prepared statement the family said-“We hope this is not viewed as negative exposure. Once Morgan State complies, it will make for a better, safer campus. Instead of hiding crime, the campus should make the students, faculty, and community more aware of what is happening. This creates more awareness and participation, enabling Morgan State to implement better crime prevention measures. We want to prevent what happened to our son from happening to other students. We want students and their families to be able to make informed choices when choosing their ‘home’ for the next 4 years.”
Security On Campus, Inc. was founded in 1987 by Howard & Connie Clery the parents of Jeanne Clery to fight for safer colleges and university campuses for our all of our nation’s young people after their daughter was brutally raped and murdered on campus at the hands of a fellow student she didn’t know. The Clery family also led the crusade to enact the mandatory campus crime reporting law which applies to all institutions of higher education participating in federal student aid programs and is named in memory of their daughter.
-###-