The Clery framework has its most significant statutory expansion in a decade, and the next milestone is weeks away for most compliance calendars. The Stop Campus Hazing Act required institutions to publish hazing prevention policies by June 2025, began Campus Hazing Transparency Report submissions in December 2025, and requires hazing statistics in Annual Security Reports starting October 2026. The law also officially renamed the Clery Act as the Jeanne Clery Campus Safety Act.
If your institution has treated the transparency report as a standalone exercise, the October ASR cycle is where the data infrastructure gets tested. Hazing statistics require the same discipline as every other Clery category: trained campus security authorities, clear geography determinations, and documented classification decisions. The stakes are not abstract. The Department of Education can impose fines of up to $71,545 per violation.
Remember also that institutions have operated without the comprehensive federal handbook for several years. A 13-page Clery Act Appendix to the FSA Handbook replaced the rescinded 2016 Handbook for Campus Safety and Security Reporting, which means interpretive weight now sits with your institution’s own documented methodology. Write your decisions down. A defensible ASR is one where every number has a paper trail.
Trust, operationalized.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Education, “Clery Act Appendix for FSA Handbook.”
- Bricker Graydon LLP, “Clery Act Statutes, Regulations and Guidance.”
- SAFE Campuses LLC, “2026 Clery Act Compliance Guide: The Complete Roadmap,” March 2026.
- Owl Badges, “Clery Act Compliance Guide for Campus Security, 2026 Update,” May 2026.
