News Article

Gonzaga University will host a U.S. government-sponsored regional training seminar June 21-22 for campus security officials focusing on compliance with the Jeanne Clery Act, which requires schools receiving federal funds to report crime statistics.

The seminar is one of five nationwide from May to September. The seminars are made possible by the U.S. Department of Justice in partnership with Security On Campus, Inc., and in collaboration with the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators and the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

More than 50 people nationwide are expected to attend the GU session, including campus police and security officers, deans, lawyers and safety advocates. The GU session is sponsored by the Sexual Violence Prevention & Safety Promotion College Coalition, a group made up of representatives of public and private colleges in the state of Washington in collaboration with the GU campus public safety & security department.

Clery was tortured, raped, sodomized and murdered in her dormitory room at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania early in the morning on April 5, 1986. Her killer, a Lehigh student whom she had never met, gained access to her room through three propped-open doors, which should have been locked. He was convicted and sentenced to death. Clery’s parents, Howard and Connie Clery, co-founded Campus Security, Inc.

Pennsylvania became the first state to pass mandatory reporting legislation; nine states followed with bills addressing the issue. President Bush signed the Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990, now known as the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act.

Sessions will cover: crime victim assistance and sexual assault policies; counting, collecting and classifying crime statistics; ongoing reporting through warnings and a public crime log; preparation and dissemination of the Annual Security Report; prevailing promising practices; and building and developing partnerships.

People may register for the event at the Security On Campus Web site. For more information about the seminar, contact Theresa Schinzel, sexual assault & harm prevention coordinator at Gonzaga, at (509) 323-5566 or via e-mail. Schinzel is a member of the steering committee for the statewide Safety Coalition. For more information about the Clery Act, contact GU Security Director Jeff Hart at (509) 323-4150.