Safety Programs and Services

Whistle Stop

Colorado College is a participant the National Whistle Stop Program. This program provides whistles for all incoming Colorado College students. Returning students and other Colorado College community members may obtain whistles upon request from the Bemis desk or the Campus Safety Dispatch Office. This program instructs participants to blow the whistle if they feel they are in imminent danger. The campus is sensitized to the fact that the sound of a whistle blast means an emergency. Persons hearing a whistle have been instructed to contact Colorado College Campus Safety, and then, in a group, proceed to the scene of the whistle blast. Whistle abuse is considered a student conduct violation.

Rape Aggression Defense (R.A.D.) Program

Rape Aggression Defense Systems (R.A.D. Systems) is a hands-on, women only self defense and risk reduction education program designed to teach women realistic ways to defend and protect oneself from sexual and abductive assaults. CC partners with UCCS to provide this program free of charge to all female students. Check our R.A.D. page for more information and upcoming classes. 

Safe Ride Service

We encourage all members of the campus community to use common sense and practice good personal safety techniques at all times.  Students and employees alike are encouraged to walk in pairs and groups especially during the hours of darkness.  However, when this is not possible, please use the College’s Safe Ride Service.  Colorado College provides a Safe Ride Service that operates 7 days a week during the academic year (Sunday thru Thursday from 8:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. and Friday & Saturday from 9:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m.).  Colorado College community members may call the Safe Ride Service and receive an escort up to 4 blocks away from campus.  Safe Ride personnel are trained on escorting, personal safety and personal accountability.  The Safe Ride Service carries a cell phone and a Campus Safety radio which provides the Team to be continuously mobile throughout the campus.  They also report any physical problems that may exist in our campus contributing to safety or Campus Safety problems (i.e. untrimmed hedges, lights that are out or misplaced, broken windows, propped open doors, etc.) to the attention of Campus Campus Safety.  To contact the Safe Ride Service call extension 6340 or Campus Safety Dispatch at extension 6707.  Provide the Service with your names, current location, where you wish to go and physical description of yourself.  Please remain in the building lobby or your car until the arrival of the Safe Ride Service.

Colorado College Alternative Transportation (CCAT) Shuttle Service

Colorado College provides an alternative transportation service called the CCAT Shuttle. Unlike the Safe Ride service that operates on a call by call basis, the CCAT runs along an established route. The CCAT Shuttle operates from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. Wednesday through Saturday, with an additional route on Saturday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. For additional information including routes and shuttle stops, please visit the CCAT Shuttle page.

Sexual Misconduct and Harassment

Students who believe they have been subjected to a sexual offense or harassment may contact the Sexual Assault Response Coordinator or VAT. A trained counselor (SARC) or peer (VAT) will serve as a supporter for the student as well as provide pertinent information about the student’s options in handling the situation. Contact SARC by calling 227-8101 or the on-call hotline at 719-602-0960.

Sex Offender Registry and Access to Related Information

The federal Campus Sex Crimes Prevention Act, enacted on October 28, 2000, goes into effect October 28, 2002. The law requires institutions of higher education to issue a statement advising the campus community where law enforcement agency information provided by a State concerning registered sex offenders may be obtained. It also requires sex offenders already required to register in a State to provide notice, as required under State law, of each institution of higher education in that State at which the person is employed, carries on a vocation, or is a student.

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation maintains a system for making certain registry information on sex offenders publicly available by means of the Internet. The made available includes the offender’s name and all aliases; the date and locality of the conviction and a brief description of the offense; date of birth; current address and photograph; and other information.

The web site addresses for securing related information are: www.sor.state.co.us, www.springspolice.com, andwww.familywatchdog.us.

Campus Safety Briefs

During the academic year “Campus Safety Briefs,” which may include safety tips and security issues from the previous weeks, can also be found on the College’s E-mail system.

Duty to Notify

The college has a duty to notify/warn the campus community of any crime that the school deems to pose an ongoing threat to students and employees.  This duty comes out of 2 important federal statutes. 

First, the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act is a federal law that requires colleges and universities to disclose annual information about campus crimes and security policies, as well as to provide “timely warnings whenever a school considers a crime to pose an ongoing "threat to students and employees."  The determination to send a FLASH warning to the campus community is based on whether the information released will aid in the prevention of a similar crime. 

The second federal statute that impacts disclosure of information is Title IX, which broadly prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any education program or activity.  Sexual violence is viewed under the law as an extreme form of hostile environment/sexual harassment and must be addressed.  Furthermore, when an institution “knows or reasonably should know” about a hostile environment, they are required “to take immediate action to eliminate the harassment, prevent its recurrence and address its effects.”  The Title IX Dear Colleague Letter issued by the Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights on April 4, 2011 clarifies that “a postsecondary institution may disclose to anyone—not just the alleged victim—the final results of a disciplinary proceeding if it determines that the student is an alleged perpetrator of a crime of violence or a non-forcible sex offense, and, with respect to the allegations made, the student has committed a violation of the institution’s rules or policies.” (p. 14)

“Crimes of violence include arson; assault offenses (aggravated assault, simple assault, intimidation); burglary; criminal homicide (manslaughter by negligence); criminal homicide (murder and  non-negligent manslaughter); destruction, damage or vandalism of property; kidnapping/abduction; robbery; and forcible sex offenses. Forcible sex offenses are defined as any sexual act directed against another person forcibly or against that person’s will, or not forcibly or against the person’s will where the victim is incapable of giving consent. Forcible sex offenses include rape, sodomy, sexual assault with an object, and forcible fondling. Non-forcible sex offenses are incest and statutory rape. 34 C.F.R. Part 99, App. A. “ (footnote, p. 14-15).  

The Colorado College definitions of sexual misconduct closely mirror the definitions of Forcible sex offenses within Title IX.  The Colorado College defines “’sexual misconduct’ as any non-consensual sexual contact between students, ranging from unwanted sexual touching to sexual intercourse.  . . .all sexual contact between students must be with each person’s active consent.  ‘Active consent’ means that each person involved in sexual contact not only agrees to the sexual activity but also agrees to such activity freely and knowingly.” (The CC Sexual Misconduct Response and Resources Policy within the Pathfinder).

Therefore, once a student is found responsible for sexual misconduct that includes non-consensual sexual contact, we have reached the threshold identified within the Title IX Dear Colleague letter “that the student is an alleged perpetrator of a crime of violence or a non-forcible sex offense, and, with respect to the allegations made, the student has committed a violation of the institution’s rules or policies.”  At that point, if the college determines that there is a potential on-going threat to the campus community, then we would have an obligation to disclose the outcome of the judicial process and to make a timely warning to the campus.  Determination of potential on-going threat in such a situation could be based on the continued social engagement of the student found responsible where there is also an observed pattern of behavior that suggests that they may perpetrate again.