The Ypsilanti Courier
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Cost of EMU scandal more than $3 million
Student president says high cost might lead to further safety measures
By Dan DuChene, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: January 3, 2008
Eastern Michigan University Student Body President Greg Jones said the fines handed down from the U.S. Department of Education are higher than he was expecting.
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"It's such a large amount of money," Jones said.
Last month the DOE determined the university should pay $357,500 for violating the federal Clery Act for its handling of the December 2006 death of 22-year-old student Laura Dickinson. The amount is the largest in the history of the act.
Since the law, which requires timely and accurate crime reporting from universities, was passed there have been 280 universities cited for deficiencies. Those have lead to 27 program reviews and six fines.
The first fine, $15,000, was issued in 2000 to Mount St. Clare College (Now Ashford University) in Clinton, Iowa.
It was determined by the DOE that EMU had violated seven separate provisions of the law and later handed down the maximum $27,500 for each, including three occasions where another $27,500 was tacked on for each of the three years of violation.
The timely warning, administrative capabilities and properly maintaining the crime log were all one-time offenses. But, all three offenses relating to reporting crime statistics were fined for three years of violations.
Officials from EMU have said they plan to appeal the ruling, as a matter of process, but intend on paying the fines once the appeals process is exhausted.
"We expected this and we will accept the final outcome once we have completed the process," Don Loppnow, executive vice president of EMU, said in a statement issued by EMU.
EMU must file any appeal by tomorrow.
The fines came a day after EMU announced a $2.5 million settlement with the Dickinson family to avoid any potential lawsuits. Of the total settlement payout, EMU will only be responsible for a $150,000 deductible. The rest will be covered by insurance.
"I'm completely disappointed about how much money this is costing us," Jones said.
Between the payout to the Dickinson family, the fines handed down from the DOE, hiring Detroit law firm Butzel Long to investigate the matter and the severance agreements with former President John Fallon, Vice President Jim Vick and Police Chief Cindy Hall, the entire ordeal has cost EMU approximately $3.88 million.
Looking at the situation optimistically, Jones said he is happy the DOE didn't make any adjustment to federal financial aid availability, which is allowed under the law. He said he hopes the endeavor can be put to the past and the university can move forward.
"I think we're trying to use it as a time to bring some closure to the situation," he said. "We need to move on in the spirit of progress."
Finally, Jones said he thinks the university has made improvements now that the violations have come to light, including increased personnel at the Department of Public Safety, training officials on Clery Act requirements, advanced tools and surveillance purchases and hiring a private security firm for the campus. He said he hopes the university will take any further steps needed to avoid this situation in the future.
"We need to address the problems that underlie the issues that created all this trouble," Jones said. "We need to make sure something like this doesn't happen again."
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