Honoring the life and legacy of the late Constance Benjamin Clery.

Honoring the life and legacy of the late Constance Benjamin Clery.

Whereas Constance Benjamin Clery (referred to in this preamble as “Connie Clery”) was born on February 12, 1931, and passed away on June 23, 2026;

Whereas Connie Clery graduated from New Bedford High School in 1949, earned a degree from Barnard College in 1953, and worked as a tri-lingual interpreter;

Whereas Connie Clery married Howard K. Clery, Jr. in 1956, starting a partnership of 51 years until his passing in 2008, and was a devoted mother to Howard III, Benjamin, and Jeanne;

Whereas, following the tragic murder of her daughter, Jeanne Clery, in 1986, Connie and Howard Clery transformed their grief into a national movement, founding the nonprofit organization Security On Campus, Inc., now known as Clery Center, in 1987, to make college campuses safer and protect victims of campus crime;

Whereas, at the time of Jeanne Clery's death, no Federal standard required institutions of higher education to disclose crimes occurring on their campuses, and prospective students and their families had no reliable means of learning about the safety of the campuses they were considering;

Whereas Connie and Howard Clery helped advance more than 30 State and Federal laws, notably the Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990 (Public Law 101–542; 20 U.S.C. 1001 note), which was signed into law by President George H.W. Bush on November 8, 1990, and added subsection (f) to section 485 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1092(f)) (now referred to as the “Jeanne Clery Campus Safety Act”) to require institutions participating in title IV student financial assistance programs to disclose campus crime statistics and security policies;

Whereas, in 1992, Connie Clery led efforts to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish a Campus Sexual Assault Victims' Bill of Rights, and in 1998, to expand public disclosure, including a daily crime log and a broader definition of campus;

Whereas Connie Clery remained engaged in subsequent efforts to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965, including in 2008 to strengthen emergency notification and missing student procedures, in 2013 to require disclosure of dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking and to strengthen prevention programs and victim rights, and in 2024 to require the disclosure and research-informed prevention of hazing;

Whereas Connie Clery was responsible for running the Clery Center until 2003, and spent nearly 4 decades counseling grieving families, training campus safety professionals, and insisting that survivors of campus crime be treated with dignity and compassion; and

Whereas Connie Clery is remembered for her courage, perseverance, compassion, and commitment to protecting students: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Senate—

(1) has heard with profound sorrow and deep regret the announcement of the death of Constance “Connie” B. Clery;

(2) honors the life and legacy of Connie Clery and expresses its deep condolences to her family and loved ones; and

(3) reaffirms its commitment to the implementation and enforcement of the Jeanne Clery Campus Safety Act (20 U.S.C. 1092(f)).