Campus safety gets top marks

The Clery annual report makes Qatar Foundation’s Education City the world’s safest place to seek higher education

Judging by the recently released figures on campus safety, Qatar Foundation’s Education City could very well be the world’s safest place to seek higher education.

US colleges and universities (including the off shore ones) are required to publish an annual report containing information about campus crime and security policies as part of the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act).

US universities at the Education City, Virginia Commonwealth University, Weill Cornell Medical College, Texas A&M, Carnegie Mellon University, Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, and Northwestern University treat the 25,000-hectare gated Education City as one campus and figures are shared.

Other colleges and academic institutions at the Education City do not require such a disclosure.

The standard chart includes such offences as murder/non-negligent homicide, negligent manslaughter, sex offences (forcible and non-forcible), robbery, aggravated assault, burglary of structure, motor vehicle theft, arson, hate crimes, illegal weapons possession; violations referred for disciplinary action, drug law arrest; drug law violations referred for disciplinary action, liquor law arrests, and liquor law violations resulting in disciplinary action.

The crimes are listed under On-Campus Property, Residential Facilities, Non-Campus Property, and Public Property. The 2008 figures, the latest available, show only one offence; burglary of a structure, under the Non-Campus Property category.

During the previous year (2007), there was one incident of illegal weapons possession leading to arrest (On-Campus), while another of liquor law arrest and two liquor law violations that were referred for disciplinary action, also under the On-Campus Property category.

An official at the Qatar Foundation’s Health, Safety and Environment Directorate yesterday said: “I document these incidents and include them in the Clery chart. Other than what is reported in the mandatory Clery annual report, there are only very minor incidents that do not require disclosure”.