Editorials and Reactions from Virginia and Grand Rapids

There were two editorials that I bumped into today, one from the Hastings area, where Laura Dickinson was from, and another from Virginia.  There is also an article in the New York Times.

 “Justice needed at EMU�
Grand Rapids Press, MI – Jun 22, 2007
Saturday, June 23, 2007

The dangerous disregard for student safety and heartless treatment of the grieving Dickinson family demand accountability. A review of the case by the Detroit law firm of Butzel Long reveals a troubling conspiracy of silence and secrecy in the face of an imminent threat to student safety.
The chain of accountability for that circumstance begins with President Fallon. Mr. Fallon says he was acting on bad information from underlings. If it is determined that Mr. Fallon knew more than he’s letting on, his job should be in jeopardy.
The Butzel Long account lays particular blame on now-suspended Vice President for Student Affairs James Vick. Mr. Vick at one point ordered a copy of a detailed police report shredded — his motives for that action are unclear — and he stuck by the “no foul play” statement even as investigators combed the campus. Department of Public Safety Chief Cindy Hall is culpable as well. She bears responsibility for student safety.
The university’s actions exposed unsuspecting students, vulnerable young women in particular, to serious danger. Avoiding this kind of situation is precisely the purpose of the 1990 Clery Act, a federal law named for Jeanne Clery who was raped and killed in her residence hall at Pennsylvania’s Lehigh University following a string of violent crimes the university had kept under wraps. The act requires “timely reporting” of threats to student safety. There is every indication university leaders utterly ignored that standard here. Now EMU is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education. The EMU tale is a vital lesson — and warning — to West Michigan universities.
The treatment of Ms. Dickinson’s parents was shoddy and inhumane. They deserved the truth. They deserved an in-person apology from President Fallon. The first was late in coming. The second still hasn’t been made. That treatment is part of a communications strategy that seemed more intent on protecting the university’s image than caring for the university community. The shame for all involved won’t be easily erased.

“Tell the Truth about Danger”
Daily Progress, Charlottesville, Va. – Jun 24, 2007
 

Set aside for a moment the moral implications of that lie – the injustice of failing to tell the parents the truth about their daughter.
Set aside for a moment the safety implications – how the rest of the student body remained in ignorance that a rapist and murderer might be among them, how they were unable to protect themselves from potential harm because of that ignorance.
Focus on this: The lie broke the law.
Federal statute requires colleges and universities to disclose information about campus crimes.

 

It was passed by Congress for all the right reasons – chiefly because students, faculty and community residents deserve to know when they might be in danger. They deserve to weigh the facts and judge for themselves whether they need to take safety precautions. …..
Schools across the commonwealth, across the country, must heed the chilling warning from Eastern Michigan – a warning about what not to do.
Parents, students, community residents deserve the truth.
And victims do not deserve, as a final indignity, official denial about their fate.

“University Officials Accused of Hiding Campus Homicide�
New York Times, NATIONAL   | June 24, 2007

Eastern Michigan University officials assured Laura Dickinson’s parents and the public that there was no evidence of foul play, even though they knew otherwise.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/24/us/24university.html?ex=1183262400&en=c783d8032ee2fd9a&ei=5070&emc=eta1

Note: I put these editorials/articles here because the other posts are getting so very encumbered with conversations on diverse topics that it seemed time for a fresh start.