When Jeanne Clery's parents pushed for answers in the wake of their daughter's murder, they learned that the type of unlawful entry through a propped door and the burglary that ended in Jeanne's death were not isolated incidents. As Jeanne's parents worked for change they made it clear that had Jeanne known about those other incidents, she would have been more aware, alerted residence hall staff to propped doors and checked to be sure her own door remained locked. These efforts influenced the inclusion of certain mandated campus-wide communication in the Clery Act. 

Emergency notifications

The first type of mandated communication, the Emergency Notification, must be sent by institutions of higher learning when a significant emergency or dangerous situation occurs on campus that poses an immediate or impending threat to health or safety. At UD, the Department of Public Safety issues these notifications immediately upon confirmation of the existence of such danger or emergency via the mass notification system, Send Word Now. This system allows for text-based and voice messaging to be sent to devices including your personal cell phone. These messages will contain pertinent information including instructions on what to do. Updates will be sent as warranted and an "all clear" is sent once the situation concludes.

To make sure your personal device's information is included in your Send Word Now profile, you can visit the Emergency Preparedness page on Public Safety's website and follow the simple instructions on how to check and update your profile via the self-registration portal on Porches.

safety advisories

The second type of mandated communication, the Timely Warning Notification, is known as a "Safety Advisory" at the University. These are sent to alert the campus community to certain crimes in a timely manner to aid in the prevention of similar crimes. The department assesses reports of Clery-reportable crimes occurring on Clery geography to determine when the criteria for this notification are met.

Safety Advisories are sent via email using the University's distribution lists that contain all faculty, staff and student email addresses.

flyer aware messages

The Department of Public Safety created Flyer Aware messages in 2017 as a way to share information with the community when a situation that could impact health or safety does not meet the criteria of the above federally mandated communication. These messages could be sent for non-emergency situations occurring on or near campus that could affect the campus community.

These messages are distributed in the same manner as Safety Advisories. 

You can always reference this chart for a quick refresher on these messages and their definitions.