The fines were levied under a law known as the Clery Act, which requires colleges and universities to provide warnings in a timely manner and to report the number of crimes on campus. During the Obama administration, there’s been a ramping up in enforcement under the act, which has gotten recent attention because of scandals at Penn State and Syracuse.
Investigators have been on the Penn State campus for a Clery Act investigation into whether the university failed to report incidents of sexual abuse in connection to allegations against former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. An Education Department spokesman said the department is also reviewing whether a similar investigation will take place at Syracuse. Three men, including two former ballboys, have accused former assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine of molesting them as minors.
In the Virginia Tech case, the rare hearing is expected to last two or three days. It probably won’t end with an immediate ruling and further legal challenges could follow. Virginia Tech hasn’t indicated it is backing down even though experts say schools found in violation of the law typically accept a fine and agree to changes or negotiate a settlement.
This has attracted great interest in higher education circles, given the high profile nature of the crime and the chance to learn how the department applies the law. The 1990 law was named after Lehigh University student Jeanne Clery, who was raped and murdered in her dorm room by another student in 1986.
During this administration, the Education Department has conducted more random Clery Act audits and has worked at times with the FBI. Six schools this year alone are facing fines, which is the same number that paid fines in the first 18 years of the law, said S. Daniel Carter, director of public policy at Security on Campus Inc., a Wayne, Pa.,-based organization formed by Clery’s parents.
