The University Office of Clery Compliance released its 2026 Annual Fire Safety and Security Report in an email sent to the University community Sept. 21, detailing campus crime statistics and outlining the University’s crime prevention efforts and safety resources. The report recorded 32 rapes in 2025, which increased from 19 in 2024, and 35 aggravated assaults, compared with 27 reports of aggravated assault in 2024. Liquor-law disciplinary referrals also increased from 222 to 311 over the same period.
“As you consider your own personal safety, we encourage you to be informed, to remain aware of your surroundings and to use the resources available to you, including safety resources from Student Affairs and the Department of Safety and Security,” Timothy Longo, associate vice president for safety and security and chief of police, said in the Sept. 21 email to students.
The report has been published annually since 1991 under the federal Jeanne Clery Campus Safety Act — which requires colleges and universities participating in federal student financial aid programs to disclose specific campus crime statistics and information about campus safety policies annually. In December 2024, Congress amended the Clery Act through the Stop Campus Hazing Act, which requires institutions to report hazing incidents and disclose additional information about hazing prevention programs in addition to the other metrics in the report.
The 2026 report was also the second released since the passage of the Stop Campus Hazing Act. As part of the act, the report included seven hazing offenses in 2025. Meghan Rapp, assistant vice president for Clery compliance and youth protection, said the University had been already addressing hazing before the new requirements took effect. Under its existing policy, the University prohibits hazing, investigates allegations through the Division of Student Affairs and requires hazing prevention training for certain student organizations under Virginia law.
Under Virginia’s Adam’s Law, the University publishes hazing-related information through its Hoos Against Hazing initiative, which provides access to reports and hazing prevention resources. Adam’s Law is a 2022 state law requiring colleges and universities to provide hazing prevention education and publicly report hazing misconduct involving student organizations.
In an email statement to The Cavalier Daily, Rapp said the increases in crime statistics partly reflect changes in how the University identifies, reports and records incidents. She said expanded reporting mechanisms, greater awareness of available resources and improvements in data collection may have contributed to the increase in reported sexual assaults. However, Rapp said the University could not attribute the increase solely to changes in reporting behavior.
In recent years, the University has expanded supportive resources for students and employees who have experienced sexual assault. These resources include Care and Support Services and Violence Prevention and Advocacy within the Student Health and Wellness Center, in addition to Counseling and Psychological Services, the Title IX Office, the Maxine Platzer Lynn Women’s Center and the U.Va Health Emergency Department. Survivors can also seek assistance from off-Grounds organizations, including the Sexual Assault Resource Agency. The University has also increased awareness of reporting options through Just Report It — an online system for reporting concerns.
Rapp said the Office of Clery Compliance trained more than 2,000 University-affiliated campus security authorities in 2025 on how to share reports of Clery Act crimes with the University. CSAs are individuals at universities who are designated under federal criteria to report certain crimes to the institution. The Office of Clery Compliance has also expanded information efforts about reporting options and available resources and introduced a process to re-review or audit incidents initially classified as “unknown.”
According to Rapp, the Office of Clery Compliance reviewed more than 6,400 University records in 2025 as part of its efforts to identify potential Clery Act incidents. Rapp said the University’s expanded footprint and the number of people it serves — including students, visitors and patients — have also contributed to an increase in potential Clery Act incidents. The University received 596 de-identified reports in 2025, compared with fewer than 100 in 2023, as departments have improved processes for identifying and sharing incidents with the Office of Clery Compliance.
Rapp said some of the increase in reported rapes from 2024 to 2025 also reflects cases in which survivors disclosed multiple incidents. During follow-up support or an investigation, a survivor may share additional information about an experience or disclose other incidents that occurred in the past.
Under the Clery Act, qualifying crimes must be counted in the year they are reported rather than the year they occurred, as long as they took place within the geographic areas covered by the law. These areas include crimes reported on Grounds, at certain off-Grounds properties owned or controlled by the University, on designated public property on or immediately adjacent to campus, as well as on University separate campus locations. As a result, the 2025 statistics may include reports of incidents that occurred in earlier years, according to Rapp.
Rapp said the Office of Clery Compliance received several disclosures in 2025 involving multiple sex offenses or multiple offense types. Federal reporting rules generally require institutions to count only the most serious offense when multiple offenses are reported, with exceptions for certain offenses covered by the Violence Against Women Act. The Violence Against Women Act is a federal law that includes protections and reporting requirements related to sexual violence, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking.
Aggravated assaults and liquor-law referrals also increased as the University improved its collection and reconciliation of crime data, according to Rapp. Rapp said the Office of Clery Compliance worked with other University departments during 2024 and 2025 to improve processes for identifying incidents reported across University spaces, resulting in more reports being shared with the Office.
Rapp noted that the increase in liquor-law disciplinary referrals also reflects how resident advisors document incidents. A disciplinary referral is a record of a person being referred to a campus official who initiates a disciplinary process that may result in a sanction. A referral does not necessarily mean the person was found responsible for a violation.
Rapp said the referrals are generally generated from records created by RAs, so the number can vary from year to year depending on how incidents are documented. When an RA documents a gathering of students under 21 where alcohol is present, every person recorded at the gathering may receive a record that counts toward the Clery Act referral total. Rapp said that this does not mean every student documented at the gathering receives a disciplinary finding or sanction.
Rapp further described the community’s willingness to seek help and report concerning behavior as a significant trend in the 2025 data. She said increased reporting allows the University to connect people with resources, respond to concerns and identify patterns that may inform future campus safety efforts.
“An increase in reports reflects a community of students, faculty, staff, visitors and patients who are increasingly aware of available resources and more comfortable seeking assistance when something happens,” Rapp said.
The report also tracked other crimes, including burglary and motor vehicle theft. Acts of burglary declined from 17 in 2024 to four in 2025. Motor vehicle thefts decreased from 126 to 117 over the same period. Under the Clery Act, motor vehicle theft includes stealing of e-bikes and scooters in addition to cars.
Rapp said the University continues to receive reports of e-bike and scooter theft, and as more students use e-bikes, bikes and scooters, the University Police’s Community Engagement Unit is exploring additional ways to deter theft. She encouraged students to register their bikes and scooters with University Police.
The University also has continued to expand campus safety measures, including adding more “Blue Light” emergency phones. The phones connect directly to University Police or a regional emergency communications center, depending on their location. The University now has 478 emergency phones, according to Rapp.
As part of its campus safety measures, the University launched Safe Sips in October 2025, which is a harm-reduction initiative that provides free drink-testing coasters designed to detect gamma-hydroxybutyrate — a central nervous system depressant — in real time. The program aims to raise awareness of drink tampering by providing students with guidance on recognizing and responding to potential tampering.
The full 2026 Annual Fire Safety and Security Report is available on the University’s Clery Act website.
Jaylynn Perez is a third-year College student from Chesapeake, Va., majoring in government and Public Policy and Leadership. She currently serves as a news senior writer and video staffer, after previously serving as senior associate editor for the news desk. She enjoys covering topics such as University governance and local politics.
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