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W.Va. college faces record $250,000 fine for violations of the Clery Act
Department of Education investigation found 14 infractions by Salem International University; university is planning to appeal
June 7, 2004
WEST VIRGINIA — Salem International University,
formerly Salem-Teikyo University, is facing the highest fines ever levied for
not complying with a federal law that requires universities to disclose
information about crimes committed on campus.
A U.S. Department of
Education investigation found that, among other things, Salem International
University failed to report numerous campus crimes between 1997 and 1999,
including five forcible sex offenses, three robberies and failed to issue timely
reports about threats on campus.
The Clery Act requires all colleges and
universities to keep and maintain crime logs and annually report crime
statistics.
The fine stands at $250,000, recently reduced from an
original proposal of $385,000. According to Security on Campus, a campus crime
watchdog group, the $385,000 fine comprised 14 separate fines of $27,500, the
maximum fine for one violation of the Clery Act.
Richard Baxter, SIU vice
president of university advancement, said he sees the fine’s reduction as
an endorsement of SUI’s efforts to become compliant with the
act.
“We’ve responded very aggressively to all of the
original allegations and charges against the university,” Baxter
said.
The university plans to appeal before the June 14 deadline, citing
undisclosed DOE “errors or misinterpretations in the statute,”
Baxter said.
He added the fine should get the attention of other
universities.
“It sends a signal that you must take this particular
act and others very seriously,” Baxter said.
S. Daniel Carter,
Security on Campus senior vice president, said that even if the fine is reduced
on appeal, it would be the “first significant” fine imposed for
violations of the Clery Act.
“Schools are being put on notice
that it will cost them more to be dishonest about their crime information than
to be honest about it, and provide students, especially student journalists,
information about crime on campus,” Carter said.
Mount St. Clare
College in Clinton, Iowa, is the only other institution fined since the Clery
Act’s 1990 inception. The school was ordered to pay $15,000 in 2000. In
2002 Mount St. Clare College became the Franciscan University.
Carter
urges student journalists who believe their campus police may be in violation of
the Clery Act to contact their DOE regional office, Security on Campus or the
Student Press Law Center.
© 2004 Student Press Law Center
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For More Information:
Read previous coverage
- Clery Act investigations The Report, Spring 2002
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