What is the Clery Act?

The Jeanne Clery Campus Safety Act (Clery Act) is a federal law that aims to provide transparency around campus security information. In 1998, the “Student Right-to-Know and Campus Security Act” was renamed in the memory of Jeanne Clery, a 19-year-old Lehigh University freshman, who was assaulted and murdered in her dorm room in 1986. The Clery Act was enacted in the belief that crime awareness can prevent campus victimization.

The law requires colleges and universities receiving federal funding to prepare, publish, and distribute, by October 1 of each year, campus safety and security policies and crime statistics. The University of Houston does this in the form of an Annual Security and Fire Safety Report. University community members are notified annually of its availability, and how and where to access the report. 

The law also requires colleges and universities receiving federal funding to (1) issue timely warnings to the campus community of certain reported crimes that represent a threat to the community, (2) issue emergency notifications to the campus community of an immediate threat on campus to their health or safety, and (3) maintain a daily crime log of certain reported crimes for the past 60 days, if the institution has a campus police or security department. The U.S. Department of Education oversees Clery Act compliance and is responsible for its enforcement.