Yale Fined $165,000 for Violations of the Clery Act
May 23, 2013
Last month the U.S. Department of Education indicated, via letter, its intention to fine Yale University $165,000 for violations of the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act) that occurred over a decade ago.
The letter was sent to Yale’s President, Dr. Richard Levin, on April 19. It cites, in particular, the omission of “two forcible sex offenses in the 2001 calendar year, and two forcible sex offenses for the 2002 calendar year.” In addition, the Department cited Yale’s failure to report crime statistics, and their lack of required policy statements for campus security reports. Each violation imposed a fine of $27,500, and a separate $55,000 fine was issued for the policy statement infraction. It is among the highest fines ever charged to a university for violations of the campus safety law.
Campus officials asked the Department to reconsider and lower the fine because of swift actions taken to rectify the problems discovered during the original Department investigation. The letter acknowledges this effort, but states that the agency does not excuse the institution’s “failure to have required policy statements in its 2004 ASR [Annual Statistical Report], as required by the Clery Act and the Department’s regulations.”
The Chronicle reports that this is the latest in a series of federal actions against colleges and universities for mishandling sexual violence on campuses. The University of Montana at Missoula reached a settlement with the Department earlier this month, and last month the University of Texas at Arlington was fined for misclassifying two crimes. Violations of the Clery Act are not uncommon; over the past 10 years a dozen schools have committed such infractions, and been assessed the according penalties and fines.
Related Links:
Department of Education Notification of Fine, April 19, 2013
https://studentaid.ed.gov/sites/default/files/1250_001.pdf
The Chronicle of Higher Education
https://chronicle.com/article/Yale-U-Is-Fined-165000/139343/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
Michael Sisson
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