The University of Oregon has released its annual Campus Security and Fire Safety Report for 2019, as required by the federal Jeanne Clery Act.
The document, known informally as a Clery report and posted on the university's new Clery Act website, is prepared every year to provide statistics and other information on dozens of safety, security and health programs, practices and resources.
Federal law requires very specific information in Clery reports. This includes crimes reported to law enforcement or to university representatives and crimes on specific property owned or controlled by the university or in public areas that run through or immediately next to campus.
Also, the report must include crimes from these locations regardless of the victims’ association to the university. It does not include crimes that happened off campus. The statistics include any reports that are made in good faith to the university — not just to law enforcement — and can be anonymous, regardless of the existence or outcome of an investigation.
Because of the Clery act’s narrow geographic scope, no direct correlation exists between the report statistics and surveys focused on sexual misconduct or violence experienced generally by college-age women. Law enforcement and Title IX officials believe that the campus culture continues a shift to greater awareness of these issues and local resources, and an ever-increasing willingness to report incidents.
“The goals of our whole-campus approach remain consistent: to raise awareness, provide support and work toward a culture that rejects sexual misconduct,” Title IX Coordinator and Associate Vice President Darci Heroy said. “These efforts show their impact with increasing numbers of students seeking out assistance and resources, sharing information and reinforcing the message that crimes and misconduct are not acceptable in our community. The university remains committed to prevention, comprehensive support and accountability with agency for survivors."
Most statistics in the report are similar to recent years. The number of on-campus rapes reported in 2018 was eight, as compared to 15 in 2017. Total reports of all classes of sexual misconduct — including rape, fondling, statutory rape, incest, dating violence, domestic violence and stalking — for all covered locations numbered 47 in 2018, compared to 53 in 2017.
Statistics in the annual Clery report are collected and presented by calendar year. The just-published edition includes statistics from 2018, as well as 2017 and 2016.