External Affairs

Campus Safety Legislation Introduced in U.S. House and U.S. Senate

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The following is an excerpt from UNC General Administration’s Federal Government Update.

On Wednesday, July 30th, a bipartisan group of seven Senators announced legislation to address campus assault, the Campus Accountability and Safety Act. The Senators include Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Dean Heller (R-Nev), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Charles Grassley (R-IA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) and Marco Rubio (R-GL) which takes aim at sexual assaults on college and university campuses by protecting and empowering students, strengthening accountability and transparency for institutions and establishing stiff penalties for non-compliance with the legislation’s new standards for training, data and best practices.

S.2692 – A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 and the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act to combat campus sexual violence, and for other purposes.

On Thursday, July 31, a bipartisan coalition of 18 House members introduced the House version of the Campus Accountability and Safety Act. The legislation mirrors the Senate bill introduced on Wednesday.

UNC System Releases Comprehensive Report on Campus Security 

The UNC Campus Security Initiative issued a final report on July 31st, offering a comprehensive review and recommendations for improving safety and security across the 17-campus University of North Carolina. In a time of growing concern and increasing regulation of safety issues on college campuses, the UNC system has undertaken a detailed, clear-eyed analysis of what UNC campuses do well, what the law requires, and how the University can do better.

Key recommendations in the Report address:

Adopting a University-wide policy and informed practices to help prevent sexual violence and guarantee professional, compassionate responses when incidents of sexual assault do occur.
  • Offering system-level guidance on legal compliance and training.
  • Setting standards for disciplinary proceedings on every campus that are clear, prompt, and fair. In cases involving sexual assault and other violent offenses, ensuring student well-being by staffing disciplinary panels with trained and experienced personnel, rather than students.
  • Combatting a culture of alcohol abuse that inflicts lasting harm on students, undermines the educational mission of the University, and threatens the safety of campus communities. This is crucial in preventing safety threats and working to end interpersonal violence on campus.
  • Acknowledging the increased expectations—and accompanying legal mandates—that campuses face with respect to student safety, and identifying the considerable resources needed to meet them.