New Jersey's William Paterson University Illegally Withheld Report From Crime Log


For Immediate Release October 22, 2003	Contact: S. Daniel Carter (865) 691-6468

New Jersey's William Paterson University Illegally Withheld Report From Crime Log

Wayne, NJ-William Paterson University has been found in violation of the federal Jeanne Clery Act for failing to make their crime log readily available to the public, and for failing to include in it at least one crime reported to campus police. The Clery Act, named in memory of a student who was raped and murdered at Pennsylvania's Lehigh University in 1986, requires all colleges and universities participating in federal student aid programs to disclose basic campus crime information, including a public crime log, or risk $27,500 fines or possibly being stripped of eligibility to participate in the student aid programs.

"We have determined that William Paterson University has violated several provisions of the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act," wrote U.S. Department of Education official Robert J. McKiernan in an October 14th letter to WPU President Arnold Speert. The findings resulted from a complaint filed by David Rothman who in 2001 reported, by e-mail and verbally, to campus police that students soliciting money on campus for a scholarship established in memory of his son Jeffrey Rothman, who died while on Spring Break in March of 2001, had kept those funds rather than turning them over. The reported theft was never included in the crime log, or acted upon by campus authorities.

"The regulations do not allow an institution to determine that it will not record the reported crime based upon the nature of the report," McKiernan told the school in response to their assertion that because no formal police report had been taken that they need not include the report in their crime log. "It is our determination that William Paterson University violated the [Clery Act] by not recording in the crime log the alleged larceny reported by Mr. Rothman on September 6, 2001."

"It has been over a two-year struggle to right a wrong and I just wanted to thank the Department of Education for taking a stand," said David Rothman in response to the findings. "I would also like to thank all the people connected with Security On Campus, Inc. for their support." SOC, a nonprofit victim assistance organization founded by Jeanne Clery's parents Connie and Howard, assisted Rothman with his complaint.

"We are very pleased that the DOE has made it clear to Dr. Speert that failing to respond to a reported crime is not grounds for excluding it from their crime log and that the log must be made public," said S. Daniel Carter the Senior Vice President of Security On Campus. "Students need access to this information to know how to avoid criminal victimization."

WPU has been given 30 days to correct their log, and revise procedures to ensure "that the crime log be available to those who request access" as required by the Clery Act.

-###-

This press release, including a copy of the DOE's October 14th letter, is also available as an Adobe PDF document by clicking here.