Exploring the Impact of Clery Sexual Assault Timely Warnings on a Campus Community

Chris Linder, Heather Melton, Whitney Hills, Kevin Coe, Jessie Richards and Allie Moore

The Journal of Higher Education, 2025, vol. 96, issue 5, 756-778

Abstract: The Clery Act requires higher education institutions to issue timely warnings in response to immediate safety concerns and to provide annual reports of campus crime data to the campus community. Despite 40 years of Clery-mandated timely warnings and reporting, rates of sexual violence on college campuses have not declined. Buidling on previous schoalrship about Clery Act requirements, we document more detailed challenges associated with complying with the Clery Act. Through a case study methodology, including interviews with university administrators and students, we examined the impact of a timely warning alert related to sexual assault on a campus community. We illustrate that campus community members feel confused about the intentions of timely warning alerts and uncertain about what to do with the information provided by the alerts. Additionally, the alerts created fear and anxiety among some members of the campus community and a chilling effect on reporting sexual violence. We provide implications for policymakers and researchers related to Clery compliance.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1080/00221546.2024.2378639

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