Historically, the incidence of reported rapes at the University of Kansas is about 40% higher than just down the interstate at Kansas State University, according to federal crime data for college campuses recently reviewed by the Journal-World.

From 2014 through 2019, the number of rape reports on or near the KU campus averaged 0.57 per 1,000 students. At Kansas State, it was 0.41 rape reports, on average, during the same time period. As a rate of incidence, that puts KU’s rate of rape reports 39% above Kansas State’s rate.

Those numbers, however, aren’t any cause for celebration at Kansas State. The Journal-World looked at six years worth of federally mandated crime reports for all the schools in the Big 12 Conference, and the numbers made a couple of aspects clear: It was a troubling year for sexual assault in the Big 12 Conference, and the number of rapes at the University of Kansas did nothing to make it less so.

The reported instances of rape and fondling at the 10 universities that make up the Big 12 Conference were up in 2019 compared with their long-term averages, and the increases at KU were among the highest in the conference.

Of course, a crime like sexual assault — one that can leave lives shattered — should never be reduced to just numbers. But when you believe you have a growing sexual assault crisis on your campus, understanding some of the numbers behind the crime can be useful.

That appears to be the point where KU is today. This review comes at a time of heightened concern about sexual assault on the Lawrence campus. Hundreds of students earlier this month protested in front of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity after allegations that a member of the fraternity had sexually assaulted a woman.

A smaller group of students continued to protest in front of Chancellor Douglas Girod’s office, contending the university has not done enough to address sexual assault on campus.

The latest numbers available for review are for 2019, although statistics for 2020 are expected to be released in the coming days. Those new numbers will provide the first glimpse at how crime on campus ebbed and flowed during the pandemic. But they also might produce outlier results in some instances because the number of students who were on campus in 2020 was greatly reduced as a result of COVID.

Ahead of that release of new crime statistics, the Journal-World looked at several years worth of crime data that universities are required to release as part of the Clery Act, a federal law that mandates colleges and universities release information about certain crimes on or near their campuses.

Here’s a look at some of the numbers reported by KU and other members of the Big 12 Conference:

High in every category

While KU didn’t have the conference’s highest rate of reported rapes and domestic violence in 2019, it had higher-than-average rates in pretty much every category related to such crimes.

In all the metrics, the Journal-World relied on the category of incidents per 1,000 students, in order to account for the sizable differences in enrollment at each Big 12 university.

In the category of rapes reported in 2019, KU had the fourth-highest number of the 10 schools in the conference. The numbers show 0.76 reported rapes per 1,000 students in 2019. That was 12% higher than the overall Big 12 average of 0.68 reported rapes per 1,000 students. Oklahoma had the highest rate in 2019 at 0.96 per 1,000 students. Texas had the lowest at 0.45.

In the category of reported fondling, KU had the third-highest rate of any school in the Big 12 with 0.36 reports per 1,000 students. That was 29% above the Big 12 average. Oklahoma had the highest reported rate at 0.61, while Kansas State had the lowest at no reports per 1,000 students.

In the category of domestic violence, KU had the third-highest number of reported cases at 0.73 cases per 1,000 students. That was 69% above the Big 12 average. Oklahoma had the highest at 0.93, while Texas Christian University had the lowest at 0.09.

In the category of dating violence, KU had the fifth-highest number of reported cases at 0.33 per 1,000 students. That was 3% higher than the Big 12 average. Texas Tech had the highest at 0.62 reports per 1,000 students. West Virginia had the lowest at zero reports per 1,000 students.

In the category of stalking, KU had the fourth-highest number of reported cases at 0.87 per 1,000 students. That was 23% higher than the Big 12 average. Baylor had the highest at 1.94 cases per 1,000 students. Oklahoma had the lowest at 0.28.

When you add up the incidence rates for each of those five offenses, the totals show that the rates at which reports are being made for those five key offenses are significantly higher at KU than at many other Big 12 schools. Here’s a look at the entire list of Big 12 schools, and their combined incidence rates per 1,000 students.

• Baylor: 4.21

• Oklahoma: 3.24

• KU 3.05

• Texas Tech: 2.77

• Iowa State: 2.28

• Oklahoma State: 2.05

• Texas Christian: 1.99

• West Virginia: 1.83

• Kansas State: 1.42

• Texas: 1.30

KU’s incidence rate of just over three reports per 1,000 students was about 27% higher than the Big 12 average.

A broader view

A one-year snapshot likely won’t give a complete picture for schools, as incidence rates can vary widely from year to year. In an effort to account for that, the Journal-World looked at six years of data for two key categories: reports for rape and fondling. All the numbers are for reports tied to the universities’ main campuses or the area surrounding those main campuses. They don’t, for instance, show reports from satellite campuses, such as KU’s Edwards Campus in Johnson County or KU’s medical school locations.

The numbers from 2014 through 2019 show KU had fewer rape reports per 1,000 students than it did in 2019, but largely every other school did as well, meaning KU was no better compared with its peers for the six-year period than it was for the one-year period. Plus, the multiyear review highlights that KU has the highest number of fondling reports of any school in the Big 12 during the six-year period.

In the category of reported rapes, KU had the fourth-highest rate in the Big 12 from 2014 through 2019, with 0.57 per 1,000 students. That was 4% above the Big 12 average. Baylor had the highest rate at 0.82 per 1,000 students. Texas Tech had the lowest at 0.37.

In the category of fondling, KU had the highest rate in the Big 12 at 0.28 reported cases per 1,000 students. That was 65% higher than the average. Texas had the lowest rate at 0.06 cases per 1,000 students.

When you combine the incidence rates for reported rapes and fondling over the six-year period, KU ranks high, much as it did for the 2019 period.

• Baylor: 1.06

• TCU: 1.03

• KU: 0.85

• OU: 0.8

• ISU: 0.79

• OSU: 0.71

• KSU: 0.56

• Texas Tech: 0.49

• WVU: 0.48

• Texas: 0.48

KU’s combined incidence rate of 0.85 was 16% above the Big 12 average for the time period.

Big 12 concerns

While questions about sexual assault are swirling around KU, the numbers suggest other Big 12 schools also have some reckoning to do. In the category of reported rape, seven of the 10 schools in the Big 12 had 2019 numbers that were higher than their historical average.

KU was one of those seven schools, and it also posted one of the larger jumps of any of the conference’s universities. KU’s incidence rate for reported rapes was 33% higher in 2019 compared with its average from 2014 through 2019. That was the fourth highest increase in the Big 12. Here’s a look at the differences for each school.

• Texas Tech: up 89%

• OU: up 71%

• OSU: up 47%

• KU: up 33%

• WVU: up 20%

• KSU: up 12%

• Texas: up 7%

• TCU: no change

• Baylor: down 5%

• ISU: down 6%

The Big 12 as a whole posted an increase of 24%.

As is the case with the rest of these numbers, the federal crime reports for each school don’t list any reasons for why the numbers have increased or declined.

Raw numbers

While incidence rates are important for comparison purposes, it also is important to know the actual number of reported rapes that have occurred at KU over the last six years. Here’s a look at the totals for rape reports that have come from the Lawrence campus:

• 2014: 14

• 2015: 11

• 2016: 6

• 2017: 12

• 2018: 13

• 2019: 11

Here are the totals for rape reports that have a KU connection but occurred somewhere near the Lawrence campus, not on it.

• 2014: 4

• 2015: 2

• 2016: 7

• 2017: 2

• 2018: 3

• 2019: 9

The numbers show that 2019 was the third consecutive year that total rape reports have increased at KU.