U.S. rules that Virginia Tech violated Clery Act during 16 April 2007 massacre
Virginia Tech may be fined $55,000 and lose some federal student aid over the way it alerted — or failed to alert — students on campus of the unfolding massacre on 16 April 2007; a federal report notes that a continuing education center and the university’s veterinary college were locked down, an official directed that the doors to his office be locked, and campus trash pickup was suspended after word traveled of the shootings — and that all of these actions took place before e-mails were sent to students, faculty, and staff on campus
Adminstrators protected thmselves before alerting campus // Source: mercurynews.com
The AP reports Virginia Tech may face up to a $55,000 fine, and lose some federal student aid over the ruling.
S. Daniel Carter, director of public policy for Security On Campus, said Clery Act reviews are relatively rare: The Tech review was the 35th in twenty years. No school has ever lost federal funding, and the largest fine was $350,000 against Eastern Michigan University for failing to report the killing of a student in a dormitory in 2006. The Clery Act requires all colleges and universities that participate in federal financial aid programs to keep and disclose information about crime on and near their respective campuses
The Daily Progress quotes one victim’s mother to say that she was glad the university finally faced punishment for its actions, but she took more satisfaction from the inclusion in the report of actions officials took to protect themselves that morning. Victims’ families had long wanted those details included in a separate report by the state panel.
“They couldn’t fine enough money for what happened that day and how it altered our lives,” said Suzanne Grimes, whose son Kevin Sterne was injured in the shootings. “It’s more about the truth of what happened. That’s what I sought for all these years.”
Grimes and other victims’ families fought for the state report to include documentation that some Tech staffers informed family members and others about the shootings long before the notice was sent to the rest of campus.
The university says that one official advised her son to go to class anyway, and that another only called to arrange for a baby sitter.
The federal report notes, however, that a continuing education center locked down, an official directed that the doors to his office be locked, the university’s veterinary college locked down and campus trash pickup was suspended after word traveled of the shootings. All of those actions took place before the e-mail was sent to campus.
