Middlebury Releases 2015 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report
MIDDLEBURY, Vt. — Middlebury released its 2015 Annual Security & Fire Safety Report today in compliance with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, and the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (also commonly referred to as VAWA). The report, which was distributed electronically to students, faculty, and staff, includes campus crime and fire statistics from the past three years as well as a handbook of safety information and procedures. The report includes data from the Middlebury College Department of Public Safety, the Middlebury Police Department, and law enforcement agencies in locations where Middlebury has a presence.
Most statistics in the report for 2014 (the most recent available) remained flat or changed slightly from the previous year. Reports of liquor law violations increased to 63 from 60 in 2013, and burglaries increased to six from five in 2013.
To comply with the updated Violence Against Women Act, the 2015 report includes new categories and definitions of crimes related to sex offenses. In 2014 there were 10 reported sex offenses on the Middlebury campus, including nine rapes and one case of forced fondling. Due to the required reporting changes, comparing 2014 statistics to those from the two previous years is inexact, though there was an overall decline in reported sex-related offenses.
Statistics for the Middlebury campus are for the full calendar year and include summer use of the campus by the Middlebury Language Schools and School of the Environment. Statistics for the Bread Loaf campus and the Middlebury at Mills College campus in Oakland, California, are in separate charts. The Bread Loaf campus is used by the Middlebury Bread Loaf School of English and Bread Loaf Writers’ Conferences, and the Mills College campus is used by the Language Schools. Middlebury issues a separate report for its campus in Monterey, California, which is home to the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey.
“We continue to educate our campus about our sexual misconduct policies and to encourage reporting of sex offenses, as well as incidents of domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking” said Katy Smith Abbott, vice president and dean of the College. “It is our goal, as I think it should be for every institution, to drive those numbers down to zero.”
Over the past three years in particular, Middlebury has engaged in a concerted effort to educate students, faculty, and staff about sexual violence and to encourage reporting of any actions described in Middlebury’s updated and expanded Policy Against Sexual Misconduct, Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, and Stalking.
The report documents the numerous education efforts that Middlebury has instituted for incoming and current students. Programs for faculty and staff are described as well, including online sexual violence prevention and response training that all faculty and staff will be expected to participate in for the first time during the 2015-2016 academic year. Middlebury also began a limited launch of the Green Dot Violence Prevention Strategy in the spring of 2015 and is conducting a campus-wide launch this fall.
In addition to revising its policies and increasing efforts at education, in 2013 the College secured a grant from the Department of Justice to enhance campus programs aimed at preventing sexual violence.
The 2015 Annual Security & Fire Safety Report is compiled by Middlebury’s Department of Public Safety.