Eastern Michigan U. to Pay $350,000 Fine for Clery Act Violation

Eastern Michigan University said today that it would pay $350,000 to the U.S. Department of Education for violating the Clery Act, the federal law that requires colleges and universities to disclose information about crimes on their campuses and to warn students and employees of threats to their safety.

The department initially fined the university $357,500 for violating the law on 13 counts, including a failure to alert the campus after the murder of a student, Laura Dickinson, in December 2006.

Eastern Michigan officials appealed the fine, pointing out improvements they had made to campus safety since the department’s investigation. “Based on those efforts, the DOE graciously dropped the fine somewhat, I mean a little bit,” said Ward Mullens, a spokesman for the university.

The fine remains the largest levied under the Clery Act since it was passed, in 1990. —Sara Lipka