Category Archives: Dickinson Murder

EMU pays $350K fine for Clery Act violations

Posted on June 6, 2008 by | 7 Comments

From the AANews: “Eastern Michigan University to pay $350,000 in federal fines over Laura Dickinson case.” Here are the first few paragraphs:

Eastern Michigan University will have to pay $350,000 in fines for violating a federal campus crime reporting law – the largest ever imposed by the U.S. Department of Education for Clery Act violations.

EMU announced today that it agreed to pay the fine, which is slightly less than the original amount – $357,500 – proposed by the department after it concluded that university officials had not properly notified the campus community that it was investigating the death of a student as a murder.

“We’re pleased to have arrived at an agreement with the DOE and we appreciate their recognition of the progress and improvements that EMU has made during the past year in regards to Clery Act compliance,” said Don Loppnow, provost and executive vice president, in a statement released this morning. “EMU will continue its efforts to emphasize safety and security on campus.”

This settlement apparently sets a record for highest fine as a result of a Clery Act violation. Not the kind of “we’re number 1″ that EMU is seeking, obviously. If there is a “silver lining” to all of this it is that as a result of these fines and violations, which obviously included but were not limited to the horribly wrong way EMU handled the Dickinson murder, it is that things will certainly be getting better. As the AAN phrased it, “The department (meaning the US Department of Education) said in the settlement agreement that EMU ‘now has procedures in place and a published policy that should substantially improve EMU’s ability to make timely warning determinations and issue campus-wide advisories, as needed.’”

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Posted in Dickinson Murder, In the media..., Security and Safety

Closing Laura Dickinson’s room: a little behind the story

Posted on June 3, 2008 by | 3 Comments

Someone who should know (but who is not a student and is not a reporter for the Eastern Echo or any other publication as far as I know) sent me an email this morning that offers a bit of a “story behind the story” about EMU’s decision to keep Laura Dickinson’s former dorm room closed up at least for a while. I posted an entry about the AAN article here.

The story really broke in the Eastern Echo. I was out of town at the time (and the Echo doesn’t show up in my EMU news feed, oddly enough), but here it is: “Housing showcase in Dickinson’s room.” The AANews article says that the room was closed after a “student leader” realized that the room being used was the one where Dickinson was murdered; that “student leader” was actually the Eastern Echo reporters.

This someone who should know also said that student housing folks were quite “brusk” with the reporter/student leader who made the Dickinson connection, and that even though Brian Fitzgerald took “full responsibility” for all this, he recently ended up with a promotion.

Anyway, at a minimum, I think the professional journalists at the Ann Arbor News owe the student journalists at the Eastern Echo an apology. As I understand it, when you are “scooped” on a story, as the AAN was in this case, it is customary to acknowledge that. And it probably would have been good for AAN to point out that the “student leaders” in question were actually the student reporters.

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Posted in Dickinson Murder, In the media..., Student Life

“Eastern Michigan University decides to keep dorm room closed where Laura Dickinson was slain”

Posted on May 29, 2008 by | 3 Comments

I suppose this makes sense: From the AANews, “Eastern Michigan University decides to keep dorm room closed where Laura Dickinson was slain.” Here’s a quote I thought was kind of interesting:

A renovated Hill Hall will reopen this fall, but Fitzgerald said he and other EMU officials decided not to open Room 518 because the memory of Dickinson’s death is too fresh.

“I think probably that wound is a little open, I guess. We chose not to” open it, he said.

“I don’t know what we’re going to do for a year from now. I think we’re going to have to talk about it.”

But the room was used earlier this month – one of four dorm rooms that displayed furniture during an event for staff and student leaders. In the rooms, potential vendors showcased products that might be used in the building this fall.
Fitzgerald called that a mistake.

The display was scheduled to last four days but was removed from Room 518 after a student leader realized it was Dickinson’s former room, Fitzgerald said.

One of the students quoted in the article said that it might make sense to keep the building closed for a couple of years. That might not be a bad idea either.

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Posted in Buildings and Grounds, Dickinson Murder, In the media...

Orange Taylor Sentenced

Posted on May 7, 2008 by | 1 Comment

Via the AANews website/blog: “Orange Taylor apologizes to families, but says he didn’t kill fellow Eastern Michigan University student Laura Dickinson.” Taylor got life, btw.

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Posted in Dickinson Murder

Lynn Rivers on the Dickinson Murder– case right now!

Posted on April 14, 2008 by | 21 Comments

Speaking of WEMU: this morning (April 14, 2008), Lynn Rivers is doing a show on the Dickinson murder and subsequent Orange Taylor conviction. For what it’s worth; I’m not a big Lynn Rivers fan, personally.

Slight update:
More than anything else, Rivers seems to be talking about how things work and/or have changed on campus with the residence halls after the Dickinson murder.  Frankly, I got turned off (and then pretty much turned off the show) when Rivers and her first guess, Bernice Lindke, completely blew past the fact that “foul play” was indeed suspected by the investigators on the scene, and that this information was systematically and deliberately covered up.

In other words, beyond the presence of security guards, educational meetings, programs to reduce “tailgating” in the dorms, and other related programs, it seems to me that one thing that EMU can do to improve security and head of problems in the future is to make sure to not blatantly lie and to follow the federal law on reporting crimes on campus.

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Posted in Dickinson Murder, In the media...

Verdict is in: Orange Taylor is Found Guilty on all Counts

Posted on April 7, 2008 by | 27 Comments

See the Ann Arbor News:

“Orange Taylor III guilty in slaying of Eastern Michigan University student”

The jury said Taylor was guilty of all counts against him. A conviction for felony murder means a mandatory sentence of life in prison …

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Posted in Dickinson Murder, Uncategorized

Closing Arguments in the Taylor Trial

Posted on April 5, 2008 by | 3 Comments

The Taylor trial wrapped up last week. It is an important event, although little discussed here on the blog compared to the earlier trial. If the administrators involved in concealing this rape and murder of Ms. Dickinson had simply told the truth to the campus community, perhaps we would have had the same somber silence that we have now rather than the ongoing scandal and revelation of years past. While I have not been following along with this second trial very closely, it seems to be open and shut this time around. All of the far fetched theories contrived to see innocence in the defendant despite the overwhelming evidence of his guilt have now been countered, including the favored excuse of those administrators either fired or retired due to their lies about the case: Ms. Dickinson’s supposed heart condition.

In any event, everyone can watch the closing arguments from the Ann Arbor News website and judge the merits of the defense and prosecution for themselves.  We may know the outcome as soon as Monday.

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Posted in Dickinson Murder

Orange Taylor trial moving quickly

Posted on April 2, 2008 by | 1 Comment

The Ann Arbor News has a web site (a blog-like space, if you will) about they are calling “The EMU Trial” that has their latest coverage of Orange Taylor. This strikes me as a bit problematic because EMU isn’t on trial; Orange Taylor is, and he’s on trial not for killing EMU, but killing a specific student, Laura Dickinson. I’m not entirely sure why the AAN wants to make this all about EMU still….

In any event, I guess I find the reporting of the story this time around a little more sketchy, which is probably to expected with the retrial. It is still “news,” but not quite the same level of news as the trial was the first time around. I doubt that we’ll see even the local television crews in town this time around.
Continue reading →

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Posted in Dickinson Murder, In the media...

Orange Taylor retrial begins today

Posted on March 31, 2008 by | 2 Comments

I just heard on WEMU that the Orange Taylor retrial begins today, which I find kind of odd only because I had not read about this in the paper or heard it on any of the local TV stations or what have you.  Of course, Taylor is being retried for the murder of Laura Dickinson in December 2007.

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Posted in Dickinson Murder, In the media...

Fallon writing a book about EMU, Free Press reports

Posted on February 28, 2008 by | 9 Comments

Today’s Detroit Free Press reports that ousted, discredited former EMU president John A. Fallon III is writing a book about his tenure at EMU. The newspaper reports that EMU lawyers have requested copies of his “book outline,” which may mean a book proposal, in court papers.    Somebody will no doubt post a link the the article soon.   But I have two questions about this: Who among the people who know John A. Fallon III would believe that he is capable on his own of writing a paragraph, let alone a book?  And who would believe a book by him on EMU would be at all reliable?   This is the former chief executive who has virtually no accomplishments as EMU president to brag about.  That Fallon is apparently seriously engaged in preparing a book, or thinks the threat of doing so will help his struggle to get cash from EMU, demonstrates how badly the Board of Regents handled this president from start to finish.   At no well run large organization would it have taken 5 months for the  governing board to dismiss a chief executive officer who had either failed to ensure that the truth was told about a murder of a community member, or had participated in the cover up of the facts of that murder.  Fallon’s sole defense for lies told to Laura Dickinson’s parents and the public about her death was that he too had not been told the truth — a defense that is premised on the president not doing his job.  Letting psychopathic subordinates mislead you is not a demonstration of presidential leadership.  Yet our Board of Regents – which, admittedly, was going thru a lot of confusion at the time — let Dr. Fallon stay on for months and months after the utter failure of his presidency was made plain as day.  

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Posted in Board of Regents, Dickinson Murder, EMU President, EMU President Search