Iona released its Annual Security and Fire Safety Report, also known as the Clery Report, on Sept. 28.

The Clery Report includes college policies, a summary of the federal law that requires the report to be printed and reported instances of crime and fires in the past three years. There were two reported fires between 2015 and 2017, one in Loftus Hall and one in Hales Hall.

This year’s report also shows increases in reported burglary, forcible sex offences and domestic violence, but a decrease in stalking and dating violence from 2015 to 2017.

Three cases of burglary were reported to Campus Safety and Security in 2017, while 2015 and 2016 showed one case each.

The number of forcible sex offences increased from one in both 2015 and 2016 to two in 2017.

Denise Hopkins, vice provost for student life, said that she expected the number of reported assaults to go up because of the college’s campaign over the past two years to encourage reporting.

“We know that the data isn’t inherently negative,” Hopkins said. “What we know is that sexual assault has happened on college campuses across the nation for many years. More recently, increased levels of awareness, education and support for victims of interpersonal violence have resulted in more students being willing to report these matters. Our data reflects that Iona reports data with integrity, and more importantly, that we are taking our responsibility to address issues of sexual misconduct seriously.”

Drug violations are down from 2016, but are up from 2015. There was only one more liquor violation in 2017 than 2016, but the amount of total liquor violations since 2015 has increased.

Hopkins said that her concern, beyond the numbers, is why the numbers are climbing and what that means for students and the college community.

“I am concerned about the stress levels and what I see as mental health challenges of college students,” Hopkins said. “Connected to that [is an] increased need for interventions. Specifically, I have concern for those who use prescription drugs and alcohol.”

The incidents of reported dating violence and stalking dropped over the three years the report covers, with two counts of dating violence in 2015 and none in 2016 and 2017. Once incident of stalking was reported in 2017, down from 4 in 2015.

The Student Life Division takes these numbers and uses them to assess their performance and what they can improve on, according to Hopkins.

“I am not alarmed by the report,” Hopkins said. “I think it reflects our consistent enforcement of community standards. We report real numbers. We consider data integrity to be paramount.”

Federal law requires the Clery Report to be published by all higher education institutions every year by Oct. 1 for the previous three years.