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Department of Education investigates Florida Tech for Clery Act violations

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Brianna Forte | Copy Editor

Florida Tech misrepresented a total of 168 cases of crimes on campus in the 2019–20 Annual Security Report, which covers incidents from the past three years. These misrepresentations violated the Clery Act, a law that requires universities and colleges to be transparent about the campus crime policy and statistics. 

The discovery of these Clery Act violations at Florida Tech, which include under-reporting and over-reporting, has led to an investigation by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Federal Student Aid. 

According to the Clery Center website, the Clery Act is a law that requires universities and colleges to be transparent about the campus crime policy and statistics. This includes an Annual Security Report with crime statistics, which is released every Oct. 1 and includes the past three years worth of crime statistics.

The investigation of Florida Tech became official in May 2020 when the Florida Today’s request of records was denied due to the possible interference of these records with an active investigation.

On behalf of Florida Tech’s president T. Dwayne McCay, Wes Sumner stated in an email that the Department of Education review has been anticipated to take around 18 months and is already well under way.

“Florida Tech is pleased to collaborate with the U.S. Department of Education’s off-site campus crime program review to further examine the university’s compliance with the Clery Act and associated initiatives,” McCay said.

The Department of Education does not comment investigations that are ongoing.

This review came about when Florida Tech failed to properly report crimes committed on campus in their Annual Security Report between 2016 and 2018.  With these violations there is a possibility that the university will be fined $58,328 per incident by the U.S. Department of Education.

On Jan. 13, 2020, McCay emailed the Florida Tech community stating that there were 53 under reported cases and 115 over reported cases, for a total of 168 cases of misrepresented reports on the ASR from 2016 to 2018.

McCay said that Florida Tech is providing the Department of Education with all the requested information while also working to make corrections.  

“We have made personnel adjustments and reassignments, enhanced policies and procedures and engaged our own outside group to review and offer counsel on the improvement of our efforts,” said McCay.

Some of these adjustments included the hiring of the law firm Husch Blackwell as an external consultant, firing the previous Title IX coordinator, and firing two personnel within the security department. 

Nicole Farnsworth, a former student at Florida Tech who was raped on campus in 2018 and whose crime statistic was not included in the ASR said she hopes that Florida Tech has learned from this experience.

“You can’t erase rape,” Farnsworth said.

As the Department of Education investigates Florida Tech’s Clery Act violations, Farnsworth said she has found some closure.

“Knowing that they’re actually investigating and they’re working to remedy the situation makes it a lot easier,” Farnsworth said.

Florida Tech at risk for nearly $9.8 million fine for under-reporting and over-reporting crimes

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By Olivia McKelvey, Kevin Boodoosingh and Emily Walker 

McCay released a statement to the Florida Tech community on Jan. 13 announcing that a review of the 2019 Annual Security Fire and Safety Reports found 53 cases of under-reporting and 115 cases of over-reporting. In total, there were 168 cases found that were misrepresented in the report. This could lead to a fine of roughly $9.8 million dollars.

Clery law states that each instance of misrepresented data—whether that be under-reporting or over-reporting—may result in a fine of $58,328 to the university by the U.S. Department of Education. Florida Tech is a federally funded university, making it covered by Clery law and requiring it to release an annual report each year with campus crime statistics.

The previous fine was $57,317 per incident; on Jan. 14, the Department of Education released a notice that the fine has increased to $58,328 due to inflation.

According to S. Daniel Carter, the president of Safety Advisors for Education Campuses, LLC, who worked with the Department of Education as a key individual in writing federal regulations for the Clery Act, an incident of over-reporting is a misrepresentation of data and can result in the same $58,328 fine as an incident of under-reporting. He went on to say that fines are easier to avoid in cases of over-reporting than with cases of under-reporting.

“It is unlikely that the Education Department would impose the maximum fine,” Carter stated in an email. “While under-reporting is generally viewed as more serious, as a technical matter an error, over or under, constitutes exactly the same violation.”

According to McCay’s statement, eight of the underreported cases were reports of rape. McCay stated in his email that “it is important to note that the incidents of reported rape themselves were each taken very seriously and treated appropriately.”

All 115 cases of over-reporting were in the category of liquor law violations.

In addition to the misrepresented data, McCay announced that two employees have departed from the university since the review; one was fired and the other has resigned.

The university did not provide the names of the employees who were fired and resigned. In an email, Wes Sumner, the vice president of marketing and communications, stated, “Florida Tech declines to discuss the details of individual personnel actions.”

Linda Jancheson was removed from the position of Title IX coordinator, which she held since February of 2018, but still holds the position of employee relations manager in Human Resources.

The Title IX coordinator position has been filled by Fanak Baarmand. Baarmand is also the risk and compliance manager.

Linda’s reassignment was announced in an email sent to the campus community from Patrick Healy, Florida Tech’s general council.

“All incidents or complaints concerning Title IX policy violations should be referred to [Baarmand],” Healy stated in an email.

McCay and Frank Iannone, the director of security, stated that they plan to request to reopen Florida Tech’s crime statistics on the Department of Education’s website. They will re-enter the corrected data and include a disclaimer explaining why corrections were made.

A new 2019 Annual Security Fire and Safety Reports was posted to Florida Tech’s website in conjunction with McCay’s statement.

In an email to The Crimson, Sumner stated, “The updated crime statistics now posted to the Florida Tech website accurately reflect the results of the university’s internal review of reported incidents and are in keeping with the university’s assessment of Clery Act classification guidelines.”

Florida Tech will partner with an outside consultant in the coming months to further review the crime statistics and “gain additional input regarding process improvement,” McCay stated.

“The result of that outside review will be shared when complete,” Sumner stated.

If you have made a report to Security, Title IX or local law enforcement and feel it has not been handled correctly, visit endrapeoncampus.org/the-clery-act to file a complaint.

As a student-run newspaper, your voices are extremely important to us.

If you feel you have experienced something similar as described in this piece and would like to speak with us, please contact us at crimson@fit.edu.

National Sexual Assault Hotline 1-800-656-4673

Women’s Center Counseling 321-242-1526

National Domestic Violence Hotline 1-800-799-7233

Florida Tech at risk of being fined millions of dollars for under-reporting crimes

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By Olivia McKelvey, Emily Walker and Kevin Boodoosingh

This story was written as a collaboration between FLORIDA TODAY and The Crimson. FLORIDA TODAY investigative reporter, Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon, worked alongside Crimson reporters: Emily Walker, outgoing editor-in-chief of The Crimson and 2019 graduate, Olivia McKelvey, incoming editor-in-chief of The Crimson (class of 2020) and Kevin Boodoosingh, managing editor of The Crimson (class of 2020). They collaborated to make records requests, consult experts and interview students who had reported crimes.

In collaboration with FLORIDA TODAY, the daily newspaper serving Brevard County, reporters uncovered at least 41 reported crimes that were not included within Florida Tech’s 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports, an error that could cost the university millions of dollars.

The Department of Education is able to fine universities $57,317 per incident of under-reporting, and with at least 41 incidents of under-reporting at Florida Tech—and the potential for there to be more—the university could be fined roughly $2.3 million depending on whether or not the Department of Education conducts an investigation and determines an outcome. 

Data Analysis

An investigation conducted by FLORIDA TODAY working alongside Crimson reporters led to the discovery of additional under-reporting of crimes other than just rape and hate crimes. Reporters cross referenced reports of crime from Melbourne police records, Palm Bay police records and Florida Tech’s campus security crime logs from 2016 through 2018 and compared them to what statistics were published in the 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports.

***Editor’s Note: FLORIDA TODAY and The Crimson incorrectly reported that the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office had not responded to a record request from a Florida Tech Crimson reporter. The initial records request was sent Dec. 5 with follow up emails and telephone calls on Dec. 7, Dec. 12, Dec. 17 and Jan. 9. The BCSO response to the initial request went to the reporter’s SPAM folder on Dec. 26 and was missed until this week. The response showed that BCSO received no Clery Act requests from Florida Tech in 2019. FLORIDA TODAY and The Crimson regrets the mistake.

 Data revealed that there were at least 41 cases of reported crimes not included in the 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports in multiple categories, including rape, stalking, dating violence, aggravated assault, arson, robbery, burglaries and motor vehicle theft. Since data could not be obtained from the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, the number of underreported crimes could be higher. 

There were zero reports of incidents falling under the categories counted as hate crimes, despite at least one incident of vandalism that was investigated by Melbourne police as a hate crime. 

Drug and liquor law violations, as well as weapons violations, were not examined for this data analysis.

In emails sent by Florida Tech security officers to local law enforcement agencies such as Melbourne Police Department and Palm Bay Police Department, reports of rape, sex crimes, domestic violence and stalking were not requested—all of which are categories that must be requested under Clery law. Although these categories were not requested, both law agencies provided Florida Tech with those particular statistics from 2016 through 2018. The majority of these statistics were not included within Florida Tech’s 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports. 

“The problem looks like one of a very sloppy process,” said S. Daniel Carter, the president of Safety Advisors for Educational Campuses, LLC and who worked with the Department of Education as a key player in writing federal regulations for the Clery Act.

Carter also mentioned that the under-reporting of crimes and unorganized method of obtaining data is a common theme nationwide at universities. He also said that the university could still be held liable by the Department of Education for “lack of administrative capacity.” 

Florida Tech Clery Act Violations

The Clery Act is a federal law that requires federally funded colleges and universities in the United States to publish statistics regarding reports of crime on and around campuses annually. Clery law requires that all reports of crime must be published within the annual report, regardless of whether or not charges were pressed.

Due to the fact that Florida Tech receives federal funding, it is required to publish an annual security report for both students and employees every Oct. 1. This report covers the past three years of data. The most recent report included data from 2016 through 2018. 

Florida Tech gathers data from campus security, the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, Melbourne Police Department and Palm Bay Police Department.

Since the annual report was released, three students have come forward with reports of rape on campus that were not counted in the annual report. Additionally, another student has come forward with a report of a hate crime that was not cited within the annual report.

Each incident of a failure to include a reported crime in the annual Clery report can result in the U.S. Department of Education imposing a fine of $57,317. 

The Voices

Four students have come forward to share three reports of rape and one of vandalism. Two have chosen to remain anonymous while two have gone on record with their names. 

Those with reports of rape all shared similar feelings of invalidation when seeing that their reports of rape, all of which occured between 2016 and 2018, were not included within the 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports.

“The fact that it wasn’t reported—it’s sad,” one rape survivor said. “Like I say, it just goes to show that they only really care about the money they’re getting from us.”

In addition to issues with under-reporting within the annual report, the students brought up concerns regarding the lack of assistance they felt they were given from the then Florida Tech’s Title IX coordinator, Linda Jancheson, as well as accounts of what they described as “victim shaming” during initial investigations from campus security.

“Even if you didn’t sign off on [the report] or you didn’t know that the underreporitng was happening, you are the head of the Title IX office,” said Nicole Farnsworth, a 19-year-old forensic psychology student who reported her statutory rape to Melbourne police in 2018. “You have a job to do and you haven’t been doing that job.” 

Another student, who was raped on campus in 2017, said campus security asked her questions regarding what she was wearing. 

“I felt victim shamed,” she said. “I lost complete respect for the school.”

Evangeline Archer, a transgender aerospace engineering student, said her car was parked on campus in November 2018 when she found it spray-painted with slurs. Both campus security and Melbourne police took pictures and made reports of the incident. Melbourne police investigated the incident as a hate crime, yet it was not listed in Florida Tech’s 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports.

“I feel like [Florida Tech], they’re very supportive of the LGBT community until there’s something they have to actually do,” Archer said in an interview with FLORIDA TODAY.

University Response

Florida Tech President T. Dwayne McCay told FLORIDA TODAY that it was “difficult to justify incompetence and gross negligence.”

McCay also said that an internal investigation is currently underway.

Frank Iannone, Florida Tech’s director of security, said that he first became aware of discrepancies in the data in August of 2019 and all available crime data is being reexamined.

“I’m telling you right now, this won’t occur again,” Iannone told FLORIDA TODAY.

McCay said the university will implement changes such as retraining and employee turnover. Additionally, after the internal review is complete, an external reviewer will be contracted this year.

While McCay said that the university has no indication that anyone intentionally altered the data, he added in the FLORIDA TODAY interview, “Some people just didn’t do their job. And those people’s jobs are in jeopardy.”

Since FLORIDA TODAY’s publication on Jan. 10, an email was sent to the student body from Patrick Healy, Florida Tech’s general council, alerting them that Fanak Baarmand, Florida Tech’s risk and compliance manager, had been assigned as the new Title IX coordinator. 

Florida Tech’s online staff directory shows Jancheson is currently employee relations manager in Human Resources.

Jancheson did not respond to requests for interviews from FLORIDA TODAY and The Crimson.

Implications

Moving forward, one student whose rape went unreported in Florida Tech’s 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports said, “All I can do now is hope that the university will truly recognize how wrong this is and people will be aware.”

According to McCay and Iannone, administration plans to request to re-open Florida Tech’s crime statistics on the Department of Education website to enter the corrected data while providing a disclaimer as to why corrections were made. A new 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports will then be issued out to all students, staff and faculty. 

McCay told FLORIDA TODAY that he was “ashamed” of what has happened and went on to state, “I don’t know what to do about it, except repair it, fix it. And, and I apologize.”

If you have made a report to Security or Title IX and feel it has not been handled correctly, visit endrapeoncampus.org/the-clery-act to file a complaint.

As a student-run newspaper, your voices are extremely important to us.

If you feel you have experienced something similar as described in this piece and would like to speak with us, please contact us at crimson@fit.edu.

National Sexual Assault Hotline 1-800-656-4673

Women’s Center Counseling 321-242-1526

National Domestic Violence Hotline 1-800-799-7233

McCay apologizes for “a misleading report” and promises review of Clery Act violations

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By: Emily Walker, Olivia McKelvey, Kevin Boodoosingh

On Dec. 2, President T. Dwayne McCay and multiple senior administrators addressed concerns involving the Clery Act violations, apologized to the student body and discussed plans and reforms to come in the wake of the underreporting of crime statistics.

“The reporting was done poorly, it was very flawed, it’s never going to go unnoticed again,” McCay said.

The Clery Act is a federal law that requires federally funded colleges and universities in the United States to publish statistics regarding reports of crime on and around campuses annually. Clery reports are required to cover the past three years’ worth of crime statistics and must be released every Oct. 1.

Florida Tech is federally funded, thus making it a university that is required to release an annual Clery report. 

Since the annual report was released, three students have come forward with reports of rape on campus that were not counted in the annual report.

McCay addressed the Florida Tech community, saying:

“I apologize to the student body for a misleading report, and not only on the Department of Education website, but also the report that was issued,” McCay said. “I plan to have a more personal hand in this in the future. I also want to assure the campus that the safety of our young men and young women was never something that we neglected.” 

The Crimson met with the following senior administrators on Dec 2:

  • Frank Kinney—senior vice president for External Relations, Chief of Staff
  • Frank Iannone—director of security 
  • Patrick Healy—General Council
  • Fanak Baarmand—risk and compliance manager 
  • Eric Kledzik—senior vice president of operations 
  • Wes Sumner—vice president for Marketing and Communications 
  • T. Dwayne McCay—president of Florida Tech

“One thing we did not do was train our people well enough,” McCay said.

He also said that he would personally do better in the future and that he believed the issue would be “cleared up within three months.”

Iannone, who was the first to notice inconsistencies in the data gathered for the 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports, said he suspected inaccuracies in the data in August but had no tangible evidence.

“From my background experience and looking at where the campus is located in comparison to other campuses I worked on, I thought the statistics were a little lower than what I had expected,” Iannone said.

When asked why no disclaimer was put on the 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety reports for the Sept. 27 release, McCay emphasized that there was no tangible evidence of inconsistencies and the importance of timeliness in reporting to the Department of Education by the Oct. 1 deadline.

“It’s a shame that timeliness might be more important than accuracy,” McCay said.

When creating the annual report, Security compiles data from multiple sources such as Florida Tech’s Title IX department, Melbourne Police Department, Palm Bay Police Department and the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office.

As part of Baarmand’s job description as risk and compliance manager, it is her duty to help the university’s internal departments work together and provide the needed data for the report.

“We are trying to build that bridge so Security can reach out easily to HR and Student Affairs and gather that information easily for their reports,” Baarmand said. “We are trying to make sure that departments work and collaborate together.”

When The Crimson met with Linda Jancheson, Florida Tech’s Title IX coordinator, prior to the publications regarding Florida Tech’s Clery violations, she said that she did not know the number of rapes that had been reported to her during her time at her job, nor did she know the number of Title IX reports she gave to Security for the 2019 Security and Fire Safety Reports.

She was asked these questions two times in two interviews and said, “I do not know,” in both instances.

 McCay and Healy—who Jancheson reports to—said Jancheson did not act in a negligent manner to their knowledge.

Since the Dec. 2 interview, both Jancheson and Healy have not responded to further requests for comments.

McCay said that the Clery data does not come across many desks prior to publication and is only seen by the Department of Security.

In a phone call, Rodney Bowers, the dean of students, said he does not remember reading the 2019 Security and Fire Safety Reports after it was released on Sept. 27.

“I’m sure I have seen the annual report before in my years here at the university,” Bowers said.

He added that if he ever noticed a mistake in the annual reports, he would “bring it to the attention of campus security immediately.”

Bino Campanini, the senior vice president of Student Life and Alumni Affairs and chief student advocate, stated that he did not see Florida Tech’s 2019 Security and Fire Safety Reports until the first Crimson publication regarding Clery inaccuracies. Campanini expressed his desire to be more involved when the annual reports are being compiled in the future.

“This issue is being taken very, very seriously,” Campanini said. “This is not something by any means that we are trying to push under the table. There is no one on this campus that does not care about our students. My number one concern is, do our students feel safe on this campus? I will say one hundred percent positively they do and that we do have a safe campus.”

Concluding the Dec 2. interview, McCay said, “You can talk to anyone in this room anytime you want to, and I never have had a problem with people talking to the administrators and the deans and all that.”

Follow-up interviews were requested to the following university employees that play important roles in campus safety and Clery reporting:

  • Carl Lewis—security officer
  • Fanak Baarmand—risk and compliance manager
  • Bonnie Rinck—security sergeant and Title IX investigator

All communication with these individuals was forwarded to Sumner, who replied with the following statement each time:

“As Dr. McCay shared in your recent interview with him, the university is in the midst of a comprehensive internal review of this matter with an external review planned as well. It would be premature to additionally discuss specific details at the present time. As Dr. McCay indicated, Florida Tech will be pleased to provide additional information when it becomes available, as well as address any additional questions.”

Efforts were also made to follow up via email with the individuals listed below, all of whom referred further questions and concerns to be sent to Sumner:

  • Holzer Health Center 
  • Cat Nanney—director of Student Involvement

Moving forward, McCay has stated that the plan is to have an outside consultant hired within the next 60 days. The outside consultant will help conduct a full internal review of crime statistics dating at least three years back with the potential to examine data as far as seven years back. 

“We are confident that the report is wrong, and we want to correct that as quickly as possible,” McCay said.

After an internal and external review has been conducted, the university plans to request to re-open Florida Tech’s crime statistics on the Department of Education website to enter the corrected data while providing a disclaimer as to why corrections were made. A new 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports will then be issued out to all students, staff and faculty. 

“Everything in my life changed after I was raped.” Third confirmed rape not included within Florida Tech’s Clery data

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By Emily Walker, Olivia McKelvey, Kevin Boodoosingh

In light of The Crimson’s recent publications on Florida Tech’s Clery violations, a third student has come forward with a report of rape that occurred in 2018. This report of rape was not accounted for in Florida Tech’s 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports, which included data from 2016 through 2018.

For the past three years, all sex offenses, including rape, were cited as zero in the report.

Every year, federally funded colleges and universities are required by the Clery Act to release a report of campus crime statistics. Florida Tech’s security department is required to gather data from the campus security crime logs, the Title IX office, Melbourne Police Department, Palm Bay Police Department and the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office to compile data for the annual report.

Nicole Farnsworth, a forensic psychology student, is the third survivor to come forward regarding her report of rape in 2018. In prior publications, The Crimson had two anonymous sources come forward about their reported rapes in 2018. Farnsworth is the first survivor to put her name on record.

“When I saw those zeros for the past three year in the Clery report, it felt like I didn’t exist, like I wasn’t real and that I wasn’t raped,” Farnsworth said.

Farnsworth, her service dog and her fiance attended the protest students held on Dec. 2. // Photo: Alice Shepard

In August of 2018, Farnsworth was raped on campus, according to Melbourne police records. At the time she was 17 years old. About two weeks after her rape, she went to the Holzer Health Center in fear that she had contracted a sexually transmitted disease. After talking to her doctor, she was notified that due to the fact that she was a minor, her doctor was mandated to report her rape to the police.

According to Clery definitions, staff members at the health center and Counseling and Psychological Services are not mandated reporters unless it is for criminal offenses or if an individual that reports their rape is underage.

Farnsworth’s doctor at the health center gave her 24 hours to tell her parents about her rape before her doctor notified Melbourne Police Department.

Farnsworth’s doctor at Holzer Health Center was asked to comment on how they handle situations involving rape and sexual assault and the mandated reporting procedure the doctor must follow as a university official. They declined to comment, referring any further questions to Wes Sumner, the director of Marketing and Communications.

At this point in time, Sumner has not provided a comment regarding referral from the Holzer Health Center.

On Sept. 11, 2018 Farnsworth returned to Holzer Health Center to report her rape to Melbourne Police officers. She decided not to press any charges against her rapist.

Since her rape in August of 2018, Farnsworth has been diagnosed by a licensed psychiatrist with depression, anxiety and post traumatic stress disorder.

In January 2019, she rescued Obi, a two-year-old pitbull mix, from a local shelter and is currently in the process of training him to be a service dog.

Since seeing The Crimson’s publications regarding Florida Tech’s Clery Act violations, specifically with underreported cases of rape, Farnsworth said she has experienced worsening of her anxiety.

“I’ve been having a lot more flashbacks, and Obi has been alerting a lot more to treat my anxiety,” Farnsworth said. “It’s been a lot more stressful, and I’m just really angry.”

On Dec. 2, Florida Tech students held a protest in response to the university’s Clery violations outside the Student Union Building. Farnsworth, along with her fiance and service dog, participated in the protest.

That same day, Farnsworth posted on Instagram about her experiences at the protest and her feelings toward Florida Tech after reading the 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports.

Farnsworth wrote on Instagram, “This is not an oversight; this is a direct attack on all rape survivors.”

In that same post she went on to state, “Do not send your children here. Pick a different college.”

Nearly a week ago, Farnsworth applied to University of Central Florida with plans to transfer to their online program by this upcoming summer.

“In light of everything—not just with my rape, but the way in which the university has not accounted for it—has led me to make the decision to transfer,” Farnsworth said.

Below is Farnsworth’s letter to the editor, citing her victim impact statement.

On Aug. 28, 2018, I was raped in my dorm room at Florida Tech. I waited almost two weeks to report it to the Holzer Health Center. The nurse I spoke to told me everything was confidential before I disclosed what happened to me. She then looked at my chart and realized I was underage and informed me she had to report it to the police. 

They came into the health center to take my statement. I told them I didn’t want to press charges unless either there was another victim or I had an STD. The sergeant informed me this was not an “if/or situation”—either I pressed charges then or I didn’t. I told him I didn’t want to. He asked my mother if she wanted to press charges. She also declined. 

Everything in my life changed after I was raped. I was constantly angry; my friends couldn’t stand to be around me because I’d get mad over little things. Eventually, everyone I met that semester cut ties with me. CAPS didn’t help; all they offered were blanket coping strategies that weren’t working for me. 

A few months after my rape, my rapist walked into my new dorm building as I had to be switched due to the paranoia. He was there to see a friend and was within five feet of me. I told my RA who he was and she told me to leave and she’d text me when she got him out of the building. I ran from Brownlie Hall to Panther Dining Hall, only stopping once because I tripped and fell. I had to go to the emergency room that night because I was having a panic attack that wouldn’t stop. 

I’ve had two attacks since then, the next always being worse than the last. Any guy that remotely looks like my rapist gives me an anxiety attack. 

In January of 2019, I adopted a dog who is currently in training to help alleviate the symptoms of my PTSD due to the rape. My fiance has to deal with behavior from me he wouldn’t have to had I not been raped. 

When the Crimson article came out about Florida Tech and the Clery Act, every bit of anger I had came back. I realized I mean nothing to the school; I don’t even exist to them. Seeing their reports and how the school has responded made me realize they don’t acknowledge I was raped at all. 

In light of all of this, I no longer want to attend Florida Tech. I look forward to continuing my education elsewhere in the near future, as I have plans to transfer to UCF by this upcoming summer. 

If you have made a report to Security or Title IX and feel it has not been handled correctly, visit endrapeoncampus.org/the-clery-act to file a complaint.

As a student-run newspaper, your voices are extremely important to us.

If you feel you have experienced something similar as described in this piece and would like to speak with us, please contact us at crimson@fit.edu.

National Sexual Assault Hotline 1-800-656-4673

Women’s Center Counseling 321-242-1526

National Domestic Violence Hotline 1-800-799-7233

Students protest in response to Florida Tech Clery Act violations

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By Emily Walker, Olivia McKelvey, Kevin Boodoosingh

In response to Florida Tech’s Clery violations, students organized a protest on Dec. 2 outside the Student Union Building.

  • Protestors hold signs by the panther statue. Photo: Francesco Isaza
  • Protestors brought signs to share with others. Photo: Francesco Isaza

Adam Bettencourt, Natalie Tria and Stephan Kenneavy worked together to organize the protest. They shared information on social media such as Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat about when and where the protest would be held.

“At this point, we’re trying to share the school’s apathy of these issues because we saw on social media how many people reposted the article and seemed outraged by it,” said Bettencourt, a senior in mechanical engineering. “But when I started throwing up the link for the protest and things like that, there was a whole lot less interest at that point when it came to actually doing anything about it.”

Bettencourt said he emailed Rodney Bowers, the dean of students, to tell him about the protest’s purpose and find out if there were any specific rules they had to follow. According to Bettencourt, the dean replied with the link to the university’s policy on protests.

Bettencourt said they wanted to hold the protest in front of President T. Dwayne McCay’s office; however, according to Florida Tech’s guidelines regarding demonstrations and dissent, demonstrations may only occur in Panther Plaza.

Students held the protest all day Monday, standing in front of the panther statue with signs. Participation numbers varied throughout the day, ranging from six to 10 students protesting at times.

Adrian Haley said at one point, people challenged the purpose of their protest.

“We had one person who was saying, ‘I’ll give you guys a wager—you guys have to convince me in the least amount of words why I should care, and if you fail, you owe me a dollar,’” Haley said.

Tria, a senior in forensic psychology, said others approached them with questions regarding how they knew rapes had actually occurred on campus. She went on to say that students should not be concerned with whether or not the rapes occurred, but with the fact that they were reported by students and that they did not appear on Florida Tech’s 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report.

While the protest was happening, potential future students of Florida Tech were touring the university.

“I see people touring the school, and I’m sitting here like, I don’t know if you want to come here—I don’t know if I can recommend this school to you,” said Alice Shepard, a senior in forensic psychology. “It has a great education, but what if you get assaulted and no one does anything about it?” 

Shepard also said that tour guides had been been told by administration to try to keep the potential future students away from the protest.

  • Protestors held up signs for people passing by to see. Photo: Kevin Boodoosingh
  • Protestors encouraged people passing by to stop and discuss the topic of the protest with them. Photo: Kevin Boodoosingh

Tria said one of her biggest concerns is the effect a lack of reporting on sexual offenses will have in the future.

“I think there are going to be people that see that it hasn’t been reported, see that the numbers have been zero for three years—not just one year where it got overlooked but for the past three years—and they’ll think, ‘I won’t get caught, so I’ll do whatever I want,’” Tria said.

Shepard added that she thinks the zeros on the 2019 Annual Annual Security and Fire Safety Report will discourage people from making reports in the first place. 

“It makes you stuck in that sort of, ‘I’m a victim and I’ll always be a victim because no one’s going to help me and no one cares,’” Shepard said. “That’s awful to have to live with.”

Tria said throughout the process of organizing the protest and while they stood outside, their goal was not to place blame, but to find answers. 

“We don’t want a scapegoat,” Tria said. “We just want to know who’s responsible, because there’s no way that people saw those zeros and just decided that those were okay, because that’s not realistic.”

Shepard went on to compare how the university was releasing inaccurate crime data to students, staff and facility in relation to how engineers manage data and reports for rocket launches.

“You don’t want to launch a rocket at SPACEX and not have the right data included in the report,” Shepard said.

At 5:04 p.m. Monday evening, McCay sent an email to the campus community, stating, “A thorough, internal review of all crime data for the past three years is ongoing. We will also partner with an outside consultant to ensure the review is comprehensive, accurate and transparent. When this review is complete, the university will pursue the mechanisms available under the Clery Act to report corrected data.”

Please continue to check The Crimson’s website, Facebook and Instagram to stay updated. This story is ongoing.

McCay states Clery data inaccuracies “not discovered in time” to correct 2019 report

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By Emily Walker, Olivia McKelvey, Kevin Boodoosingh

Soon after The Crimson published two pieces regarding violations of the Clery Act involving rape and stalking, T. Dwayne McCay, Florida Tech’s president, released a statement in response to how the university has been handling the matter.

In an email to The Crimson, McCay stated, “Florida Tech takes very seriously all issues related to campus and student safety. Accuracy matters. Several months ago, the university became concerned that some crime data was being improperly interpreted and recorded. A new position of compliance and risk manager was created in part to address this concern. A comprehensive internal review of all crime data for the past three years is ongoing, and when complete, the university will pursue the mechanisms available under the Clery Act to report corrected data.”

According to the Clery Act, federally funded universities must release a report regarding statistics of crime on and around campuses for the past three years. This report is to be released on Oct. 1 of every year. 

On Sept. 27, Barry Cobb, assistant director for Security, distributed Florida Tech’s 2019 Annual Security Fire and Safety Reports via email to students, staff and faculty. 

Two anonymous students have come forward since the report came out and said they were raped in 2017 and 2018 and reported through Title IX and Security. Under the sexual offenses category of Florida Tech’s 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports, there were zero instances of rape cited for the past three years. 

An instance of stalking was also found on a 2018 crime log. This particular report of stalking was also not cited within Florida Tech’s 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports, as the category of stalking was marked zero from 2016 through 2018.

When asked if the university knew about the inaccuracy of the 2019 Clery data prior to the release of the 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports, McCay stated in an email, “It was not ‘discovered’ in time to modify the Sept. 27 report, which was for 2018. We began immediately to try to understand the disconnect and work backwards through all the data. We thought reporting was being done correctly. It was apparently not enough time to get the 2018 data reviewed.”

According to the U.S. Department of Education, reporting inaccurate numbers on a Clery report goes in violation of the Clery Act. As of February 2019, the National Association of Clery Compliance officers and professional stated that the U.S. Department of Education can impose $57,317 per Clery Act violation.

Such inaccuracies that have been found include two cases of rape and one case of stalking, all of which occurred between 2017 and 2018. These incidents were all cited as zero within Florida Tech’s 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports.

McCay stated that the university is going to partner with an outside consultant to “ensure the review is comprehensive and transparent.” He went on to say that when the review is complete, the university will “pursue the mechanisms available under the Clery Act to report corrected data.”

At this time, it is unknown who the outside consultant is that is expected to partner with the university to investigate this subject matter. 

The press secretary for the Student Government Association, Buse Dayioglu, released a statement that emphasized the importance of student voices and the protection of their rights. 

“We would like to take this time to remind the students who have been affected, either during these unreported events or for future events, that you are not alone in this process, and as the voice of the students we will do our best to protect your rights and well-being,” Dayioglu wrote in SGA’s press release. 

Jace Petrowski, the president of SGA, said that SGA was unaware of the inaccurate data prior to The Crimson’s article.

McCay stated that the university’s internal investigation is “active and far from complete.” 

The president declined to directly address certain follow-up questions, citing that the investigation is “ongoing.” He agreed to meet with The Crimson next week after Thanksgiving break to discuss the details further. 

Please continue to check The Crimson’s website, Facebook and Instagram to stay updated. This story is ongoing.

Third potential violation found in Florida Tech’s 2019 Clery report

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By Emily Walker, Olivia McKelvey, Kevin Boodoosingh

A third potential violation of the Florida Tech 2019 Annual Fire and Safety Clery report was found in the category of stalking that occurred in 2018. This comes on the heels of two confirmed reports of rape that were not included within the Clery report. 

Within a section of the fall 2018 crime logs, a report of stalking was found. On Florida Tech’s 2019 Annual Safety and Fire Report, stalking, which falls under the Violence Against Women Act amendment, was cited as zero for the past three years.

  • Statistics from the Florida Tech 2019 Annual Fire and Safety Clery report.

The Clery Act is a federal law that requires federally funded colleges and universities in the United States to publish statistics regarding crime on and around campuses annually. Clery reports are required to cover the past three years’ worth of crime statistics and must be released every Oct. 1.

Florida Tech is federally funded, thus making it a university that is required to release an annual Clery report.

Within Clery, there is an amendment known as the Violence Against Women Act.

VAWA expands the rights to campus survivors of sexual assault and includes the crimes of domestic violence, dating violence and stalking.

Under Florida state definitions within Florida Tech’s 2019 Annual Safety and Fire Report, stalking is defined as “‘willfully, maliciously and repeatedly following, harassing or cyberstalking’ another. Stalking behaviors can consist of many things: actual physical following of a person, continuously calling or texting, emailing, leaving notes or sending letters, leaving or sending objects or ‘gifts’ … essentially, a pattern of unwanted behavior with malicious intent. Stalking involves a pattern of behavior that causes substantial emotional distress to a specific person with no legitimate purpose.”

The Clery Act requires that federally funded universities publish a public crime log disclosing any crime that occurs on campus or within patrol jurisdiction of the campus security department and that is reported to campus security.

As of February of 2019, the National Association of Clery Compliance officers and professionals stated that the U.S. Department of Education can impose $57,317 per Clery Act violation.

Frank Iannone, the director of security, declined to comment on this new finding.

It is not currently known if the Department of Education is investigating these potential violations of the Clery Act.

If you have made a report to Security or Title IX and feel it has not been handled correctly, visit endrapeoncampus.org/the-clery-act to file a complaint.

As a student-run newspaper, your voices are extremely important to us.

If you feel you have experienced something similar as described in this piece and would like to speak with us, please contact us at crimson@fit.edu.

National Sexual Assault Hotline 1-800-656-4673

Women’s Center Counseling 321-242-1526

National Domestic Violence Hotline 1-800-799-7233

Florida Tech fails to acknowledge reports of rape required under federal law

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By: Emily Walker, Olivia McKelvey, Kevin Boodoosingh

Florida Tech failed to acknowledge multiple reports of rape within the 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports under the Clery Act.




  • The Campus Crime Statistics lists zero sex offenses have occurred in the in the past three years. If there have been cases of sexual assaults that were not included in the crime statistics, then that is a violation of the Clery Act. 

Two students have come forward with accounts of rape and how they reported their cases through Title IX and Security.

Their cases did not appear on the Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports, which is in violation of the Clery Act.

What is the Clery Act:

In 1986, Jeanne Clery, a student at Lehigh University, was raped and murdered in her residence hall.

Four years later, the Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990 was established in order to create accountability for reporting violent crimes and providing transparency on campus crime statistics.

The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act—the Clery Act— is a federal law requiring United States colleges and universities to disclose information about crime on and around campuses.

Due to the fact that Florida Tech receives federal funding, it is required to publish an annual security report for both students and employees every Oct. 1.

What is included within the Clery report:

Florida Tech’s Office of Safety and Security prepares an annual report in cooperation with local law enforcement agencies such as Melbourne Police Department, Palm Bay Police Department and the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office.

Other university departments also work in collaboration with compiling crime reports and statistics such as the Title IX office.

The report is required to include data from the past three years on the following crimes:

  • Criminal homicides such as murder and non-negligent manslaughter and negligent manslaughter
  • Sex offenses such as rape, fondling, incest and statutory rape
  • Arrests and judicial referrals for liquor law violations, drug abuse violations and weapons law violations
  • The “other” category, which includes robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft and arson
  • The Violence Against Women’s Act—VAWA—is an amendment within Clery that expands the rights to campus survivors of sexual assault and includes the following crimes:
    • domestic violence
    • dating violence
    • stalking
  • Hate crimes, which include offense definitions relating to hate/bias-related crime, larceny, simple assault, intimidation and destruction/damage/vandalism of property

Clery cites that the following individuals on campus are Campus Security Authorities—also known as mandated reporters— a term created by the Clery Act that encompasses groups of individuals and organizations at Florida Tech:

  • Dean of Students
  • Director of Security
  • Security Department
  • Title IX Coordinator
  • Senior Vice President for Academic Administration
  • Chief of Staff
  • Athletics Director
  • Athletic Coaches
  • Office of Student Life
  • Director of Student Housing
  • Other Campus Security Authorities that have a “significant responsibility for student and campus activities.”

Clery geography:

Another factor Clery examines when categorizing data is geographical location of a specific crime.

Clery includes both on-campus and non-campus locations within the report.

An on-campus location is defined as any building or property owned or controlled by an institution, such as an academic building or dorm.

Non-campus geographic location can refer to any Florida Tech owned entity that is frequented by students.

The non-campus definition also includes campus leased or rented spaces for an event that was sponsored by the university or any building or property owned or controlled by a student organization that is officially recognized by the institution.

How Florida Tech violated the Clery Act:

In the 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports, all sex offenses, including rape, were cited as zero for the past three years.

According to definition in Florida Tech’s 2019 Annual Safety and Fire Report, rape is defined as “the penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.”

An anonymous student has gone on record and said that her rape, which occurred in 2018 on campus, was not included in the Clery report.

“I went into the Title IX office because I wanted this put down on record,” she said. “I wanted them to know that women are being assaulted and raped on this campus.” 

The student went to the health center and Counseling and Psychological Services, neither of which are mandated reporters.

She later went to Linda Jancheson, the Title IX coordinator, who reports to, as listed in Florida Tech’s organizational chart, VP/General Counsel.

“I spent 20 minutes waiting in the Title IX office, five minutes in Jancheson’s office and I left with three extra papers that I didn’t know what the hell meant,” the student said.

The student later talked to another Campus Security Authority and discussed her options with Security.

She ultimately decided not to take action against her rapist and no charges were filed in this case. 

Despite the student not taking action, according to Frank Iannone, director of security, whether or not a victim decides to pursue charges, a report is made regardless of the outcome.

When asked how many cases of rape have been reported to Jancheson for the past three years, she said, “I do not know the exact numbers.”

When asked how many Title IX reports Jancheson handed over to Security to include within this year’s Clery report, she said, “I do not know.”

The Title IX coordinator was asked these same questions two times, in two separate interviews, and responded with “I do not know,” in each instance.

Jancheson went on to say that she was not in the Title IX coordinator position when reports were made last year in 2018, though her start date was February of 2018.

Another anonymous source was raped in 2017 on campus and reported her rape to Security in 2018.

The student went through an investigation and disciplinary hearing, which took over one year and resulted in disciplinary action for her rapist. 

This student’s rape was also not included within this year’s Clery data. 

“Sitting down with two security officers not once, but twice to relive the details of my rape in depth and on record was anything but a warm environment as a victim,” she said. 

After her initial report, the student heard nothing for five months regarding the investigation and the scheduling of the disciplinary hearing.

“It was the worst experience of my life,” she said. “The process of reporting it was nearly as bad as my actual rape.”

It is not immediately known whether or not campus security filed these two reports of rape with local law enforcement.

Both sources will remain anonymous. The Crimson does not disclose the names of sexual assault survivors.

Repercussions for violating Clery:

According to a press release from the National Association of Clery Compliance officers and professionals, as of February 2019, the new amount that the U.S. Department of Education can impose for noncompliance with the Clery Act is $57,317 per violation. 

In 2016, Penn State was fined 2.4 million dollars for having been “out of compliance” for 11 serious cases dating from 1998 to 2011.

In 2018, the University of Montana was fined $966,614 for “inaccurate and misleading crime statistics” from liquior law violations to cases of rape between 2012 and 2015. 

Two anonymous students at Florida Tech have come forward to discuss their rapes in 2017 and 2018 and how they reported it to Security.

Those cases have not been cited within this year’s Clery report. 

Iannone said that from the statistics that are provided within this year’s Clery report, he feels the numbers accurately represent the campus.

If you have made a report to Security or Title IX and feel it has not been handled correctly, visit endrapeoncampus.org/the-clery-act to file a complaint.

As a student-run newspaper, your voices are extremely important to us.

If you feel you have experienced something similar as described in this piece and would like to speak with us, please contact us at crimson@fit.edu.

National Sexual Assault Hotline -1-800-656-4673
Women’s Center Counseling 321-242-1526