Proclamation 6326

By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation

If our Nation's schools are to be marked by excellence, they must offer students and teachers an environment that is conducive to learning. Accordingly, AMERICA 2000, our strategy to reinvigorate the Nation's education system, calls for every school in the country to be safe, disciplined, and free of drugs and violence.

Surveys indicate that as much as 80 percent of all crimes committed at our Nation's institutions of higher learning are perpetrated by students, against students. The vast majority of these crimes are related to alcohol or drugs. Regardless of its source or nature, however, campus crime not only inflicts costly material losses but also causes untold personal suffering. Moreover, campus crime disrupts the vital functions of colleges and universities, thereby depriving students of an optimal educational experience.

Stopping theft, vandalism, sexual assault and other crimes on campus will require the sustained cooperation of students, administrators, and staff, as well as campus security personnel and law enforcement officials. Every academic community in America must increase its awareness of campus crime and ways to prevent it.

Last year, the Congress passed the "Student Right-to-Know and Campus Security Act," which requires colleges and universities to inform students and employees about campus crime statistics and campus security policies. By working together to achieve the goals set forth in this legislation, we will not only promote the safety of those who study and work at our Nation's institutions of higher learning but also provide our students with a valuable lesson in civic responsibility.

Now, Therefore, I, George Bush, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim the week beginning September 1, 1991, as National Campus Crime and Security Awareness Week. I encourage all Americans to observe this week with appropriate programs and activities.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-second day of August, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and sixteenth.

George Bush

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 2:46 p.m., August 23, 1991]