Erie County’s four traditional colleges and universities must report annual crime statistics under the federal Clery Act, which applies to institutions of higher learning nationwide.
GREG WOHLFORD/ERIE TIMES-NEWS
USA TODAY Network, Reuters
The Jeanne Clery Act requires colleges and universities to report data for crimes on campus, as well as support victims of violence and outline policies and procedures to improve campus safety.
The federal law is named for a 19-year-old college student who was raped and murdered in her dorm at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
The Clery Act requires schools that receive federal funding to produce an Annual Security and Fire Safety Report that includes campus crime statistics for the previous three years.
The reports are due Oct. 1. The most recent reports include crime statistics for 2024.
The reports list the offenses in two categories: criminal offenses and offenses under the Violence Against Women Act, the 1994 federal law designed to improve legal protections for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault and increase their access to services.
Here is a look at the 2024 reports for Erie County’s traditional colleges and universities: Gannon University, Mercyhurst University, PennWest Edinboro and Penn State Behrend.
Gannon University
Criminal offenses
Rape: 1 (2 in 2023, 1 in 2022)Burglary: 1 (2 in 2023)
Violence Against Women Act offenses
Domestic violence: 1Stalking: 2 (1 in 2023)
Mercyhurst University
Offenses
Rape: 4 (5 in 2023 and 5 in 2022)Fondling: 1 (4 in 2023, 1 in 2022)Aggravated assault: 3 (1 in 2023)Dating violence: 2 (8 in 2023, 5 in 2022)Stalking: 2 (4 in 2023)
Penn State Behrend
Criminal offenses
Rape: 6 (4 in 2023, 4 in 2022)Burglary: 1 (2 in 2022)
Violence Against Women Act offenses
Dating violence: 8 (6 in 2023, 3 in 2022)Stalking: 5 on-campus, 1 non-campus (6 in 2023, 2 in 2022)
PennWest Edinboro
Offenses
Burglary: 2Rape: 1Fondling: 1 (2 in 2022)Stalking: 1 (2 in 2022)
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Offenses reported by Erie County colleges and universities under Clery
Reporting by Staff report, Erie Times-News / Erie Times-News
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This story was originally published September 30, 2026 at 5:12 AM.