On Tuesday, July 24, 2007, after weeks of negotiations with the higher education community and a day and a half of debate, the Senate voted 95 to 0 to approve S. 1642 reauthorizing the Higher Education Act (HEA).

Now that the legislation has passed the Senate vote, the measures will move on to the U.S. House of Representatives this fall.

Act now to express your support for this important campus safety legislation.

S. 1642 includes the following campus safety provisions:

• Requires timely alerts to college and university campus communities about any immediate threat to the health or safety of students or staff occurring on the campus. For the first time, colleges and universities will be required to publicize the extent to which they utilize cellular-based emergency alerts.
• Calls on the Departments of Education, Justice, and Homeland Security to advise institutions of higher education on model emergency response policies, procedures and practices. The bill also authorizes these agencies to distribute best practices for campus security and emergency response to schools around the country.
• Creates a student safety grant program to help colleges and universities improve their campus safety and emergency response systems by purchasing up to date alerting and networking communications equipment.

Read a summary of the legislation from the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators (IACLEA).