photo by: Mike Yoder/Journal-World File Photo

In this file photo from Sept. 16, 2014, demonstrators sit outside Strong Hall to protest the University of Kansas' handling of sexual assault investigations.

The amount of time students lived on the University of Kansas campus in 2020 was greatly reduced by the pandemic, but that fact did nothing to reduce the number of sexual assault cases on campus, new numbers show.

Both the number of reported rapes and reported fondling cases on campus grew in 2020, according to a federally mandated public safety report that universities across the country were required to have completed earlier this month.

Reported rapes on campus grew slightly from 11 cases in 2019 to 12 cases in 2020, while the number of reported fondling cases on campus grew from four in 2019 to 11 in 2020.

Those on-campus increases came despite KU’s decision to close student housing in March 2020 in response to the pandemic. Student housing remained largely closed for the rest of the spring semester and the entire summer semester and did not reopen until late August 2020.

All 12 of the reported rape cases in 2020 were connected to KU student housing, according to the report.

Chancellor Douglas Girod on Tuesday said in a video message to campus that KU has much work to do in the area of preventing sexual assault, although he did not specifically address the latest statistics.

“It sadly continues to be a problem in our society, pervasive on campuses across the nation, as we continue to read about them,” Girod said of sexual assault cases. “It most certainly continues to be a problem here at the University of Kansas. Like many of you, we find it disappointing, sad. Frankly it is frustrating. As a chancellor, a physician, and a father, it is very frustrating as well.”

The latest numbers, which KU reported as part of the federal Clery Act requirements, did show that off-campus rapes involving university community members declined in the year, going from nine in 2019 to one in 2020. Off-campus reports generally include crimes that happened on public property adjacent to campus, or in university buildings that are open to students but not directly on campus.

Due to that decline in off-campus rape reports, total rape cases connected to the university dropped from 20 in 2019 to 13 in 2020. That ended a period of three consecutive years where total rape cases associated with KU had risen. The 2019 total rape report numbers were the highest ever for KU since the Clery report began specifically reporting on rape in 2014.

But the increase in the reports of on-campus rapes and fondling ran counter to other crime trends that KU had reported earlier in the year. In February, KU reported in a press release that total crime reports on the KU campus fell by 40% in 2020 compared to 2019. At that time, KU officials said they were not surprised by the lower numbers due to fewer students in on-campus housing and the fact that most employees were working from home during large parts of the year.

On Tuesday afternoon, a KU spokeswoman did not respond to a question about whether KU had any thoughts on why the rape case numbers did not show a decline during a time period when there was significantly less activity on campus.

Advocates for sexual assault survivors also caution that numbers like those included in Clery report documents don’t always provide an accurate glimpse of sexual assault rates on a campus because the reports only measure those incidents that have been reported.

On Tuesday, Girod and other leaders tasked with sexual assault prevention urged campus community members to be vigilant and not only report any suspected activity but to intervene when necessary.

“Be an active bystander,” Girod said in the video message. “If you see something heading down a path, not a good path … step in, help your friends, protect your friends, protect each other, protect your colleagues.

“I think at the end of the day that is how we make the biggest difference on campus. Take that community approach to it.”

The new Clery Report numbers come on the heels of a review of data for all Big 12 schools that showed KU from 2014 through 2019 had higher incidence rates for rape, fondling and other abuse crimes than the Big 12 average during that time period.

Other numbers in the recent Clery Report document did show some improvement at KU in 2020 compared to 2019. Here’s a look:

• Domestic violence: two on-campus cases, down from nine; one off-campus case, down from two;

• Dating violence: six on-campus cases, down from eight; two off-campus cases, up from one;

• Stalking: 14 on-campus cases, down from 22; zero off-campus cases, down from one;

• Aggravated assault: one on-campus case, down from three; one off-campus case, down from two;

• Burglary: five on-campus cases, down from 10; five off-campus cases, up from one;

• Motor vehicle theft: nine on-campus cases, up from three; one off-campus case, up from zero;

• Liquor law violations referred for disciplinary action: 381 on-campus cases, down from 388.

• Drug law violations referred for disciplinary action: 31 on-campus cases, down from 92.