Connie Clery never intended to be an activist. But the 1986 murder of her daughter, Jeanne, who was killed in her dormitory room when she was a freshman at Lehigh University, galvanized her and her husband, Howard Clery Jr. (who died in 2008). They pressed for legislation that would force colleges to report crimes and to be held more accountable for safety on their campuses. It has been 25 years since the federal campus-crime-reporting law known as the Clery Act was signed. Here is an edited version of a conversation with Ms. Clery about the legacy of her work.
Q. When you first set out on this quest after your daughter’s death, what did you envision might come of it?
A. I didn’t envision anything, because I didn’t know how to do what I wanted to do, which is make college campuses safer so that others wouldn’t have this lifetime nightmare to deal with. How could I help so that Jeanne’s legacy would mean that others wouldn’t be victims of horrible crimes, and parents wouldn’t have to deal with losing their children?
Q. Are you happy with the current state of the regulation and its effect on colleges and campus security?
A. I’m thrilled, but you know, nothing’s perfect. The one disappointment that I have is that I know all the schools are really struggling to comply, and that is such a tough, tough, tough road.
But I’m hopeful because I see the students, the young people, now have the courage to speak out, and they’re spearheading this desire for truth and justice.
Q. In addition to the challenges colleges sometimes face in complying with the Clery Act, campus police must also deal with the fact that a lot of campus crime is committed by students, victimizing other students, which is difficult to police.
A. It is such a tough job, because it’s really double-edged. The colleges and universities can have the best, most perfect security possible, but the students have the responsibility of helping to protect themselves.
One thing that I think is so absolutely necessary is for students to start respecting one another, and the authority of the college or university, and themselves. But I don’t know how you bring respect about again.
Q. One of the key tenets of the regulation compels colleges to compile and share statistics for crime on campus in annual reports, but there’s little evidence that students consult the data. While the legislation has had profound effects on campus security, it appears not to have worked exactly as intended.
A. Oh, no, I disagree. It was intended to save lives. That’s all. That’s all we cared about.
Q. So the transparency it brings to campus security is more important than the consumer-safety aspect?
A. I’m just hoping that our great system, our government, makes sure that our students have the instruments, the knowledge, to know how to protect themselves, and that the colleges, with their expertise, provide the technical security for them.
Q. So has the Clery Act made students safer?
A. Oh, absolutely. How could there be any doubt of it?
Q. I understand that an image of your daughter hangs in the offices of the Clery Center for Security on Campus, the advocacy organization you and your husband founded. Can you imagine what Jeanne would think if she could see what arose from what happened to her?
A. She would be so happy, and smiling that beautiful smile of hers. She would be so thrilled that so many lives were being saved as a result. That’s all she cared about—other people.
