Pace University Receives Clery Center’s 2026 Campus Safety Impact Award

Pace University's Pace Emergency Evacuation Registry (PEER) program was named the recipient of Clery Center's 2026 Campus Safety Impact Award. The award was presented on September 10, during Clery Center's National Campus Safety Awareness Month (NCSAM) Virtual Summit, in a session sponsored by GradGuard. Wimer Alberto, Vice President of Industry Engagement at GradGuard, delivered sponsor remarks and introduced the segment; Montello D. Hobley Jr., Director of Threat Assessment at the University of Colorado Boulder, presented the award to Pace University on behalf of Clery Center.

Clery Center gives the award each year to a program that has demonstrably strengthened campus safety, prevention, or well-being. This year's selection, PEER, came out of the Pace Working Group on Accessible Emergency Management and was led by Andy Lewen, Director of Emergency Management and Business Continuity, along with Brian Anderson, Assistant Vice President for Safety and Emergency Management.

The problem PEER was built to solve is one Lewen framed directly during the summit session: students are already a vulnerable population in an emergency, and those with disabilities are more vulnerable still, yet are routinely left out of the planning process. Pace's New York City campus adds a layer of difficulty to that problem. The campus is highly vertical, including a residence hall that rises 34 floors, among the tallest student housing in the world, and a building emergency there can sharply amplify the barriers someone faces in evacuating or getting help.

PEER addresses that gap by connecting to a resource the university already had in place, its building access control system. Students, faculty, and staff can opt into the registry ahead of time, describing the type of assistance they may need and whether it is temporary or ongoing, without the need to provide a diagnosis. If a registered participant's card swipe data places them in a building during an active emergency, they receive a text asking them to confirm their location and whether they need assistance. A "yes" routes directly to campus security, giving responders a head start on locating that person and relaying the information to first responders.

The registry was built to be compliant by design, aligned with both FERPA and ADA, and enrollment has no bearing on a participant's access to university programs, services, or employment. Getting the design right took input from across the university: Student Affairs, Student Accessibility Services, Athletics, Residential Life, and other groups, which all had a hand in shaping how PEER works.

That cross-functional approach is what set PEER apart for the award committee. Rather than treating accessibility as an add-on to an existing emergency plan, Pace built it into the plan from the start, and in doing so, moved emergency response from something reactive to something proactive.

PEER is not a one-time build, Pace maintains it through regular drills, audits, and updates intended to catch gaps and improve the registry over time. University staff also see the model as something other institutions, particularly those with dense, vertical, or urban campuses similar to Pace's, could adapt for their own emergency planning.

Lewen shared that the award was validating, describing it as a first step toward a world where everyone can feel safe in an emergency.

Wimer Alberto, Vice President of Industry Engagement at GradGuard, reflected on what the award represents for GradGuard's broader mission:

"GradGuard sees itself as part of a much broader movement to help students persist and succeed. That is why we invest in research, scholarships, grants, and thought leadership through College Life Protected and through partnerships with organizations like the Clery Center. For almost forty years, Clery Center has challenged higher education to think differently about campus safety. Their work reminds us that safety is measured by the culture institutions create for every student who walks onto campus. Through education, advocacy, and the sharing of innovative practices, Clery Center has helped transform campus safety from a regulatory obligation into a strategic priority that touches every corner of an institution. That philosophy closely aligns with how we think about protecting students. This approach is what makes the Campus Safety Impact Award so meaningful."

Applications for the 2027 Campus Safety Impact Award open next spring. GradGuard is a proud sponsor of Clery Center’s work supporting campus safety nationwide.