King’s recently released crime statistics from over the past three years. Incidents include one case of illegal weapon possession, one case of aggravated assault, two cases of fondling, 74 liquor law violations and 46 drug abuse violations.

Dean Leedy sent the full Security and Fire Safety Report by email in December to all students, staff and faculty (The college is required by federal law to notify students, staff and faculty of these incidents). In the email and report, he also highlighted two important safety policies from the college’s Title IX office.

The most reported crime incidents happened in 2019, with an overall total of 51 crimes. Most violations were of liquor laws. This crime is defined as “the violation of state or local laws or ordinances prohibiting the manufacture, sale, purchase, transportation, possession or use of alcoholic beverages, not including driving under the influence and drunkenness,” according to the report.

“We track these violations every year to monitor what is going on within our community, but also to report to the federal government. The low liquor law violation number (7) from 2017 was actually the outlier and unusually low for us. Same thing with the low drug violation (2) from 2018,” said Nick Swedick, Assistant Dean of Students. “In addition to tracking the data on violations like these, the Student Development office regularly reviews our alcohol and other drug prevention strategies. We utilize best practices within higher education in our prevention programs. Those programs include the annual Housing Safety meetings and Title IX meetings with new students during NSO and the House Alcohol and Honor Talks.”

The first safety-related policy highlighted by Leedy in the email was in regards to confidential employees. The administration has expanded that list to include professors Dr. Anthony Bradley, Dr. Ben White and Dr. Dru Johnson. Students can make reports to these faculty members which will not be referred to Title IX coordinators without the student’s consent.

“Reports made directly to a confidential employee are protected by confidentiality laws and will not be referred to the Title IX Coordinator without the consent of the student,” the email read.

Another policy noted in the email was the nationwide change to Title IX laws. The change was finalized in May of 2020 to strengthen the confines of sexual harassment and restore due process on campus. Until the Title IX provisions, sexual harassment includes “sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking, as unlawful discrimination on the basis of sex.”

The King’s Student Handbook states that all students are entitled to the resources that the college provides. It currently states that while King’s is “bound by the historic Christian tradition regarding sexuality, gender, and marriage,” they admit students “regardless of faith, sexual identity, or sexual orientation” and acknowledge that LGBTQIA+ students must have the same rights as every other student.

King's Releases New Crime Statistics