About Our Campuses and Clery Geography

The Purpose of EMU Clery Geography 

Clery Geography requirements are intended to inform the campus community of crimes so that community members know about safety issues and may take steps to protect their safety. The U.S. Department of Education applies no specific, measurable distance definition to adjacent public property. 

Consistent with the regulatory framework, EMU follows the principles for Clery Geography reporting purposes by determining which buildings, facilities, parking lots, and real estate are included in the definition of the "campus." In this Annual Security Report, EMU records crimes by location. 

As explained below, the three categories of locations subject to reporting are:

1) ON-CAMPUS is defined in 34 CFR 668.46(a) as:

(i) Any building or property owned or controlled by an institution within the same reasonably contiguous geographic area and used by the institution in direct support of, or a manner related to, the institution's educational purposes, including residence halls; and 

(ii) any building or property within or reasonably contiguous to the identified area. The Department does not apply any specific or measurable distance definition to a "reasonably contiguous geographic area." Many institutions employ an approach that any property included on a campus map or designated by signage as a campus facility is considered included in the definition of a "reasonably contiguous geography area." If an additional location, branch campus, school within the institution, or administrative location is not within a reasonably contiguous area, such site would be considered a separate campus for reporting purposes. 

2) NON CAMPUS BUILDING OR PROPERTY is defined in 34 CFR 668.46(a), means "(i) [a]ny building or property owned or controlled by a student organization officially recognized by the institution; or (ii) [a]ny building or property owned or controlled by an institution that is used in direct support of, or relation to, the institution's educational purposes, is frequently used by students, and is not within the same reasonably contiguous geographic area of the institution." To satisfy the second part of the definition, the property must: 

1) be owned or controlled by the institution (e.g., leased by the institution); 

2) be used in direct support of or concerning the institution's educational purposes; 

3) be frequently used by students; and 

4) not be within a reasonably contiguous geographic area of the institution. Examples of this type of property include but are not limited to, institution-owned, off-campus apartment units rented to students, ancillary research or athletic facilities utilized by students and faculty, and event facilities located off-campus and used for campus activities. or 3) public property. 

3) PUBLIC PROPERTY is defined in statute as "all public property that is within the same reasonably contiguous geographic area of the institution, such as a sidewalk, a street, another thoroughfare, or parking facility, and is adjacent to a facility owned or controlled by the institution if the facility is used by the institution in direct support of, or a manner related to the institution's educational purposes." The regulatory definition of "public property" in 34 CFR 668.46(a) includes "all public property, including thoroughfares, streets, sidewalks, and parking facilities, that is within the campus, or immediately adjacent to and accessible from the campus." For this definition to apply, the property in question must satisfy all three conditions: 

1) public (e.g., publicly owned); 

2) within or immediately adjacent to campus; and 

3) accessible from the campus. This definition excludes private property and may, in some cases, exclude areas such as property divided by a fence, wall, or property with clearly posted signs indicating that it is not part of the campus or that trespassing is prohibited. The private property where students have established regular usage – whether legal, illegal, open, or inconspicuous – that is not otherwise campus or non campus property is not a public property for Clery reporting purposes. 

Clery Geography and Title IX

Under Title IX, an institution's obligation to address sexual harassment in a recipient's "education program or activity" is a separate inquiry from an institution of higher education's obligations concerning Clery Geography. While the two concepts may overlap, they are not coterminous, and the two laws (Clery Act and Title IX) serve different purposes and have separate obligations for entities covered by both statutes. When an institution has officially recognized a student organization, and sexual harassment occurs in an off-campus location not owned or controlled by the student organization but involving members of the officially recognized student organization, the recipient's Title IX obligations depend upon whether the recipient exercised substantial control over the respondent and the context of the harassment, or whether the circumstances may otherwise be determined to have been part of the "operations of" the institution. 

Sexual harassment, under Title IX and as defined in 34 CFR 106.30(a), covers a broader range of misconduct than the sex offenses covered under the Clery Act. At 34 CFR 106.44(a), the Title IX regulations cover incidents in an institution's "education program or activity," which includes "locations, events, or circumstances over which the recipient exercised substantial control over both the respondent and the context in which the sexual harassment occurs, and also includes any building owned or controlled by a student organization that is officially recognized by a postsecondary institution." The 2020 Title IX regulations do not impose a geographical limit on an institution's responsibilities, except for the limitation of Title IX's scope to incidents that occur "against a person in the United States."

Main Campus

EMU's main campus is in Harrisonburg, Virginia (population approximately 52,000 per U.S. 2020 Census). Additional locations are in East Lampeter Township, Lancaster, PA, and Washington, D.C. 

The main campus is located in a portion of the city that is a residential neighborhood, a private Mennonite high school, and a retirement community bordering the main campus. The principal address is 1200 Park Road, Harrisonburg, VA.22802.

Satellite Campus in Lancaster, PA

EMU has a small, satellite, non-residential campus in Lancaster, PA. It is located in an attractive suburban office park. The address for this site in 2023 was 1846 Charter Lane, Lancaster, PA.17605. The University does not consider this location separately administered as all administrative, academic, and operational decision-making is centralized in the President's Office Executive Leadership Team.

Washington Community Scholars' Center

EMU also has a property in Washington, D.C. It houses the Washington Community Scholars' Center. This facility has residential, office, and classroom space in it. It is located at 836 Taylor Street NE. Washington D.C.20017. The University does not consider this location a separately administered site as all administrative, academic, and operational decision-making is centralized in the President's Office Executive Leadership Team.