Campus safety advocates honored the California State University system with its Jeanne Clery Campus Safety Award for moves it made last year to insure that campus crime reporting adheres to federal law, and for developing a system-wide alcohol policy.

Security On Campus, Inc. issued the award to the CSU for a training video the Chancellor’s office produced showing college administrators and law enforcement officials how to comply with the so-called Clery Act.

“Security On Campus, Inc. recognizes the brave efforts of the CSU in addressing head-on the alcohol problems prevalent on not only their campuses, but also on campuses across the nation,” said a statement from Howard and Connie Clery. “Secondly, CSU took it upon itself to produce a training video on how to comply with the Clery Act. We congratulate them.”

The Clerys founded SOCI in 1987 after their 19-year-old daughter, Jeanne, was murdered in her Lehigh University dorm room by a fellow student during a robbery attempt.

The training video developed by the CSU is available to universities across the country to clarify what is required under disclosure laws that have evolved in both their scope and complexity since 1991.

For example, changes in the law four years ago expanded the types of sources who must report criminal activity to include residence hall officials.

CSU’s alcohol policy gained national attention when the Board of Trustees adopted it in July 2001.

Reacting to a series of alcohol-related student deaths from Chico to San Diego, the CSU tapped a committee of campus administrators, students, faculty, staff and alumni to review campus alcohol rules and make changes.

In what is believed to be the first university system-wide policy in the country, the Board mandated that all 23 CSU schools have alcohol advisory councils, ongoing review of alcohol policies and programs, and participate in an annual CSU conference.