McBath, Thompson, Klobuchar, Cassidy Introduce Bipartisan, Bicameral Resolution Honoring Connie Clery

Washington, DC— Representatives Lucy McBath (D-GA) and GT Thompson (R-PA) introduced a bipartisan, bicameral resolution to honor the life of Connie Clery during National Campus Safety Awareness Month. After Connie Clery’s 19-year-old daughter Jeanne Clery was murdered on campus in 1986, Clery became the driving force behind the Clery Act, which requires colleges to disclose their campus safety policies and information about crimes that occur on and near their campuses.Connie Clery passed away on June 23, 2026. U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) introduced a companion resolution in the Senate. “I’m proud to lead this resolution in Connie Clery’s name alongside my colleagues. After the horrific assault and murder of their daughter Jeanne, Connie and Howard turned their grief into action and passed the Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990 into law, which was renamed the ‘Jeanne Clery Campus Safety Act’ through the passage of our bill, the ‘Stop Campus Hazing Act’,” said McBath. “Just as I have been for my son Jordan, Connie was committed to honoring her late daughter’s legacy and fighting to make sure that no other families have to go through the pain of losing a loved one. May Connie’s memory serve as proof that there is no force on Earth stronger than a mom.” “Connie Clery took her family’s tragedy and transformed it into a national movement to make college campuses safer,” said Thompson. “Thanks to her advocacy, numerous state and federal laws were passed to improve student safety. Connie’s vision and legacy will live on through the work of the Clery Center, and I am grateful to her unwavering commitment to this cause.” “Following the tragic loss of her daughter Jeanne, Connie Clery led a national movement to make campuses safer for students. Her tireless advocacy led to the first federal law requiring colleges to disclose crimes that occur on their campuses, a legacy that to this day provides students and families with transparency about the safety of the campuses they call home,” said Klobuchar. “During the first National Campus Safety Awareness Month since her passing, we are introducing this bipartisan resolution to honor her life and dedication to improving campus safety and protecting victims of crime across the country.” “Parents everywhere owe a debt of gratitude to Connie Clery,” said Dr. Cassidy. “Following the senseless murder of her daughter at Lehigh University, Connie dedicated her life to improving campus safety. Her advocacy led to the foundational Clery Act and my Stop Campus Hazing Act, protecting students’ lives and giving parents peace of mind as they drop their children off at college.” “On behalf of Clery Center, we are deeply grateful to the United States Senate for honoring Connie Clery’s extraordinary life and enduring legacy through this resolution. Connie dedicated her life to making campuses safer for all students, transforming unimaginable loss into advocacy, action, and lasting change. I was blessed to have Connie in my life—as a friend, mentor, and fellow mom with whom I shared a very special bond. We were brought together by the unimaginable loss of our children—Jeanne and Gary Jr.—and by the failures in campus safety that contributed to their deaths. Through our shared loss, we found purpose in advocating for safer campuses and working to ensure that other families would not have to experience what we did. Connie and Howard reminded us, ‘The best education in the world is useless if a student doesn’t survive with a healthy mind and body.’ Those words capture so much of what Connie stood for and why her work mattered so deeply. As we honor Connie, we must carry that work forward—moving from awareness to action, from action to accountability, and from accountability to prevention. Her legacy is not simply one to remember; it is a responsibility to continue. For Connie. For Jeanne. For the Clery family. And for every student whose story is still being written, we must remain committed to creating safer campuses where students can learn, grow, and thrive. On behalf of Clery Center, I thank the United States Senate for recognizing Connie’s remarkable life and unwavering commitment to students and for helping ensure that her legacy continues to inspire generations to come,” said Julie G. DeVercelly, Chair, Clery Center Board of Directors. Full text of the resolution is available HERE and below: 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)).