I know this isn't exactly germaine to football, but this is the same school
that covered up the egergious story of a black raping and then murdering
a white girl last December.
Check out
www.cofcc.org and then the main entry.
Or
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070609/
NEWS02/706090321/1001/NEWS
EMU cover-up broke the law
Inquiry finds officials deceptive
June 9, 2007
BY DAN CORTEZ and KRISTEN JORDAN SHAMUS
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS
An independent investigation found that several Eastern Michigan
University officials deceived the public, withheld information and violated
federal law to cover up the on-campus killing of a student.
A report released Friday from Detroit law firm Butzel Long P.C., which
conducted the investigation, said university officials quickly learned foul
play was a possibility in the death of Laura Dickinson. Despite that
information, the university issued a statement the next day stating that
"there is no reason to suspect foul play."
Advertisement
Among the acts highlighted in the report was a university official's
decision to shred a detailed police report, the university's violation of
federal law by not telling students that Dickinson may have been killed
when there was reason almost immediately to suspect it, and the
university's standing by the initial claims until someone was charged in
the slaying.
"The trust placed by people in the campus community with the university
was violated in a very real and personal way," the report summary read.
"Instead of providing a warning, or even no statement at all, the
university's statement dismissed the possibility of foul play and offered
assurances of safety."
Apologetic university leaders expressed disappointment in their handling
of the case and said the report will lead to personnel changes and new
policies for how to handle similar situations in the future.
"Their findings aren't pretty," said Jim Stapleton, a member of the Board
of Regents.
Dickinson, 22, of Hastings was found dead Dec. 15 in her Hill Hall dorm
room on the Ypsilanti campus by a maintenance worker looking for the
source of a foul odor. Investigators arrested 20-year-old Orange Taylor III
in February and charged him in her killing. He is due in Washtenaw
County Circuit Court on Wednesday.
University Vice President for Student Affairs James Vick and Director of
Public Safety Cindy Hall had different explanations for why Vick shredded
a detailed police report a week after Dickinson was found dead. Vick said
he did so after Hall told him to, but Hall denied that.
The report also says EMU violated the Clery Act, a federal law that
mandates schools inform the public of crimes or criminals that might
pose ongoing threats to students. The investigation found that the
university didn't have a standard procedure on how to notify the public
about a killing on campus.
"This is potentially the single-most egregious violation of the Clery Act
ever," said S. Daniel Carter, senior vice president of Security on Campus, a
nonprofit group that advocates for campus safety issues. His organization
filed a complaint with U.S. Department of Education, which is
investigating EMU's conduct.
The independent report was accompanied by 41 exhibits totaling more
than 400 pages and including a document from Vick's lawyers that argues
he was unjustly suspended after Taylor's arrest.
