August 19, 2004

Ms. Rosemary K. Torpey
U.S. Department of Education
McCormack Courthouse, Room 706
Boston, MA 02109

Dear Ms. Torpey:

What appears to be an extremely serious violation of the federal Jeanne Clery Act by Yale University was recently brought to our attention through an article in the Yale Alumni Magazine (which is produced by an organization independent from the University). According to the article "Lux, Veritas, and Sexual Trespass" published in the July/August 2004 issue, Yale University has never collected sexual assault or other crime data from many school officials who are required to provide information for timely warnings and annual crime statistics.

Specifically, the article, a copy of which is enclosed for your reference, states that "Yale has not asked these officials to report their statistics to the university, which means it has effectively collected data only from the police." According to the Clery Act's regulations at 34 CFR § 668.46 (a) statistics must be collected from any "official of an institution who has significant responsibility for student and campus activities, including, but not limited to, student housing, student discipline, and campus judicial proceedings" not just the police.

Given the seriousness of this charge it is imperative that both the Department and the University take immediate action to ensure that the crime statistics due by October 1st for the 2001, 2002, and 2003 calendar years are accurate and complete. Please contact Yale and ask them to retroactively collect all required information for each of these three years. Also, please ensure that the officials are adequately instructed on what they must report. The article indicates that Yale's first effort to collect this information earlier this year dealt only with disciplinary reports, not all crime reports, and didn't adequately define the crimes.

We also want to verify that these statistics are accurately reported, and believe that an on-site campus security focused program review should be conducted as soon as possible to determine the full extent of the Clery Act reporting issues dating back to 1997. Students depend on this information to make decisions about their safety, and image conscious schools must not be allowed to put their reputations above the lives of their students.

Thank you in advance for your prompt response to these urgent matters.

Sincerely,

S. Daniel Carter

c.c.: Richard C. Levin, Yale University