For Immediate Release March 30, 2004

The complaint was filed on behalf of the same student who last month sued the University in federal court under a separate law, Title IX, over how her February 22, 2002 report of campus rape was handled. Title IX requires that schools "promptly and effectively" respond to sexual assault and harassment complaints, while the Clery Act requires that sexual assault victims be informed of options to receive counseling, medical care, and assistance in reporting to the police. Colleges and universities that violate the Clery Act can be fined up to $27,500 per violation, or have their federal money cut off. Unlike Title IX, private lawsuits can't be brought for Clery Act violations.

"I was never informed about my option for holding the rapist accountable with the police," said the campus rape survivor in the complaint filed this week. "I was not informed about my option for holding my rapist responsible at the university either. I was not informed about the possibility of filing charges at the Office of Student Judicial Affairs. I was not informed about the Student Advocacy Center. Nobody suggested going to the hospital in order to obtain a rape kit or to protect myself from disease."

"After an assault of this kind victims are often in a state of shock and in need of strong support, and clear guidance," said S. Daniel Carter the Vice President of Security On Campus. "A protocol should exist requiring all campus security authorities, including housing officials and campus police, to inform all rape victims about all of their rights guaranteed by the Clery Act, and any additional rights or options granted by institutional policy. We want to ensure that what happened in this case never happens again and are asking the U.S. Department of Education to take prompt action to ensure that these problems get corrected."

Ohio State University's annual campus security report, required by the Jeanne Clery Act, includes a detailed sexual assault response policy, but it was not followed in this case according to the complaint. Additionally, that report omits one of the required victims' rights policies that all schools have to adopt, a clear statement that the school will assist sexual assault victims in reporting to the police.

Under the Clery Act colleges also have to notify the campus community about ongoing threats to public safety, and when a report is made to the police the school must disclose that it has been reported in a public log. "Ohio State University did not record the February 2002 rape report in their crime log at that point despite the fact that it was reported to them, and no rape in the log from 2001 through the present lists the actual date and time the assault occurred instead listing only when it was reported which could be days if not months later," said Carter. "In this case the log entry for the February 22, 2002 rape only mentions June 14, 2002 the date when it was reported to the police a second time. This denies students the information they need to make informed decisions about avoiding potential threats on campus because they don't know when these types of crimes are actually occurring."

The University is also accused of not issuing timely warnings in this victim's case, and a prior assault allegedly committed by the same assailant. "This failure to issue a timely warning left the second student unaware of the potential threat to her safety," said Carter.

"The Ohio State University should and could have prevented me from a life altering, horrible nightmare, but instead they simply moved the rapist to another dormitory," said the campus rape survivor in a written statement. "I was not afforded my rights as a student victim. The Ohio State University needs to change. They have an obligation to protect and support victims of rape on their campus, and they are clearly not fulfilling their duties. The Ohio State University needs to empower victims of rape, not push them away."

Security On Campus, Inc. is the nation's only non-profit organization devoted exclusively to assisting the victims of campus violence and working to improve safety at our nation's colleges and universities. It was founded in 1987 by Connie and Howard Clery after their daughter Jeanne was raped and murdered at Lehigh University in 1986. The Clery family, along with other campus crime victims and their families, also petitioned Congress to adopt national campus crime reporting and victims' rights provisions as the Campus Security Act of 1990 the law that is now named in memory of Jeanne Clery.