Swarthmore College’s Department of Public Safety released the 2026 Annual Fire Safety and Security Report last Wednesday, which contains campus safety policies, statistics on crimes and disciplinary action in the community, and a fire safety assessment.
In compliance with the Clery Act, the Higher Education Opportunity Act, and the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act the college publishes this report annually by Oct. 1. The statistics and assessment cover the previous calendar year. More recently, following the passage of the Stop Campus Hazing Act in 2024, the report has also included information on hazing incidents.
After reviewing the 126-page document along with the 2024 and 2025 reports, The Phoenix compiled six key takeaways, along with a summary of the most notable data.
1. Alcohol and drug disciplinary referrals return to baseline level after dramatic surge in 2024
In 2024, there were 214 disciplinary referrals for liquor law violations, an abnormal 435% increase from the previous year. In 2025, however, the number dropped to 41 cases, roughly in line with the 40 cases reported in 2023 and the average of around 50 per year over the past five years. Similarly, disciplinary referrals for drug law violations jumped from thirteen in 2023 to 33 in 2024, and then fell back to twelve in 2025.
According to Associate Director of Public Safety John Bera, the rise in liquor law violations in 2024 was caused by a “small number of incidents involving large groups of students,” rather than an actual increase in alcohol use among students. It is possible that the spike in drug referrals in 2024 followed a similar pattern, given that alcohol and drug violations are more often identified at large parties or events.
Despite its unusually high referral rates, 2024 saw no drug-related arrests and only four liquor-related arrests. In contrast, the 2023 report reflected one drug-related arrest and ten liquor-related arrests, while 2025 recorded one and seven, respectively. This disparity corroborates Bera’s explanation regarding the surge in 2024.
Since Spring 2026, the college has loosened restrictions on alcohol-registered events: the minimum attendance threshold for events that requires an Alcohol Permit rose from ten to twenty people, and designated spaces for these events expanded to include suites in the PPR Apartments (NPPR), according to Senior Associate Dean of Student Conduct Nate Miller.
These changes allow students to host small events with up to twenty attendees and alcohol present without completing the Alcohol Registered Event (A.R.E.) application process, as well as giving students more options for event locations; in conjunction, these changes may further lower the number of alcohol referrals resulting from violations of A.R.E. regulations in next year’s report.
2. On-campus hate crime incidents gradually decreased from 2023 to 2025; recent Culture and Climate Survey Report merits a closer look
In 2025, only one hate crime, an incident of vandalism that targeted ethnicity, was reported — a meaningful drop compared with the ten hate crimes reported in 2023 and six in 2024. However, a Spring 2025 campus climate survey raises the possibility that hate crimes may be underreported on campus.
The survey found that about 59% of incidents involving discrimination or harassment experienced by students, faculty, and staff were not reported to the college. When asked why they chose not to report, some respondents cited “a lack of confidence in the allegations being taken seriously or meaningfully addressed, uncertainty about what can be done to address it, and a lack of understanding of the process that follows a report of discrimination or harassment.”
Accordingly, it is difficult to determine how much of the decline in reported hate crimes reflects a more inclusive campus environment versus a decline in the victims’ willingness to report.
A significant 70% of Muslim student respondents reported experiencing discrimination or harassment at Swarthmore, more than double the rate reported at other four-year colleges.
3. 2025 sees an uptick in sexual and relationship violence compared with previous year
Two incidents of rape were reported on campus in 2025, in contrast to none in 2024. Still, the number of reported offenses last year remained below the nine rape incidents in 2023. There were also eleven reported dating violence offenses and seven fondling offenses in 2025, both marking five-year highs.
The 2025 numbers for domestic violence and stalking, however, were both lower than those reported in the previous two years. Reports of domestic violence dropped back to zero from one, while reported stalking incidents fell from five in 2024 to three in 2025.
4. Swim teams reprimanded for hazing
A Campus Hazing Transparency Report (CHTR) was linked in the 2026 Fire Safety and Security Report as required by the Stop Hazing Act amendments to the Clery Act. According to the CHTR, the only hazing incident that occurred last year involved members of the men’s and women’s swimming teams.
The incident was reported to the college in January 2026 and alleged that on multiple dates from December 2025 to January 2026, the swim teams engaged in “forced/coerced consumption of food” after failing to complete assigned “challenges” within the allotted time as part of the teams’ “traditions.”
After six months of investigation, the college concluded that the teams were responsible for violating Swarthmore’s Anti-Hazing Policy. Both teams received an official reprimand from the college, the second-lightest disciplinary sanction after a warning. Although less severe than other sanctions, a reprimand is recorded on a student’s permanent conduct record.
As shown in a biennial report that was also listed under the Hazing section of the Fire Safety and Security file, this incident was the second hazing violation since 2021. In the summer of 2024, there was another incident with the men’s soccer team, in which members were asked to “wear embarrassing or humiliating attire, take personal items including mattresses from members rooms, and/or [participate in] activities with degrading, crude, or humiliating acts.”
The team was placed on probation during the following semester.
5. Reduction, restructuring of Sexual Violence Prevention and Healthy Relationships Education
The college’s education programs aimed at addressing sexual and relationship violence have shrunken significantly in the past two years, according to the “Annual Prevention and Education for Domestic and Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking” section.
Many thematic programs from the 2024 and 2025 reports — such as “Sexplanations Educational Series,” “Men and Intimate Partner Violence,” “Men and Masculinity Events,” and “Mindfulness & Sexuality Workshop” — no longer appear.
In total, the activity entries under “Sexual Violence Prevention and Healthy Relationships Education” declined from 21 in last year’s report to twelve. This may be partly attributable to the 2026 report’s more general description of these programs than the previous reports. However, most of the programs that are dropped from the report are no longer offered on campus either.
Moreover, some of the Title IX Office’s former responsibilities have been transferred to other departments. The “culturally relevant education and awareness programs” mentioned above, which the Title IX Office used to sponsor, are now overseen by the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (the DEI Office). Similarly, the responsibility for providing new staff and faculty with in-person education regarding their reporting obligation, prohibited conduct, and techniques for receiving disclosures shifted from the Title IX Coordinator to Human Resources.
6. Public Safety creates new Emergency Preparedness and Training Coordinator position; number of patrol/communication officers declined
Compared with the Fire Safety and Security Reports from 2024 and 2025, this year’s report outlines several staffing changes in the Public Safety Department.
The number of patrol/communication officers decreased from seventeen (eleven full-time and six part-time) to fourteen (nine full-time and five part-time officers). Meanwhile, a new position, Emergency Preparedness and Training Coordinator, which was filled in May, was listed in this year’s report.
According to the job description, the coordinator’s responsibilities include helping to develop and maintain the college’s Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) and campus departmental Continuity of Operations Plans (COOP), as well as helping plan and conduct emergency drills.
Other Statistics
Last year, there was one reported incident of aggravated assault, in contrast to none in 2024; six reported burglaries, compared to three and twelve in 2024 and 2023 respectively; two cases of arson, which is roughly in line with one and four in 2024 and 2023 respectively. Among 37 cases of larceny on campus in 2025, sixteen occurred in residential halls, which is largely consistent with the data from the previous two years.
Throughout 2025 only four fires were reported in campus residential halls. They were set in Willets Hall by the same student, who ignited four advertising flyers posted on doors. This behavior resulted in less than $99 total property losses, and the student was referred to the Division of Student Affairs.
