CORRECTION

The September issue of Fraternal Law reported that Penn State was advising fraternity and sorority chapter advisors that they were responsible under the Clery Act for reporting certain crimes.  The article observed that volunteer chapter advisors did not appear to qualify as campus security authorities responsible for Clery Act reporting unless they were also employees of the university.

Roy W. Baker, Ed.D., Director of the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life at Penn State, has now clarified that Penn State “provided an opportunity for advisors to participate in Clery Act training that explained the law, the definition of “Campus Security Authorities” (CSA) that those advisors who are employees of Penn State University are considered to be “Campus Security Authorities” and that they are expected to report certain criminal activities.  Those advisors who are not employees of the University are not considered to be a “Campus Security Authority” and are simply being encouraged to report their knowledge of certain criminal activity if they choose to do so.”

While a number of fraternity volunteers who participated in the Penn State training came away with the impression that they had been told that they were obligated under the Act to file reports, it is now clear that that is not what Penn State intended.

This writer could have cleared up this misunderstanding by having contacted Penn State prior to publishing the initial article.  Fraternal Law regrets the error.

Some other colleges have said that advisors are Campus Security Authorities.  But that is only true if either they are designated college employees or are specifically named in the campus Clery Act Security Plan.