The federal Clery Act was passed in 1990 and named after a Lehigh University student who was murdered in her dorm room in 1986. It is intended to protect students by forcing schools to be transparent about campus crime.

Under the act, college administrators must report all serious criminal allegations made to them “in good faith” – i.e., based on more than rumor – to a designated campus official. That official is then required to submit a tally of the allegations to the federal Department of Education. The department publishes statistics each year for every school in the country that receives federal financial aid – essentially all of them.