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Liberty University, the evangelical Christian institution founded by the televangelist Jerry Falwell in 1971, has been hit with an unprecedented $14 million fine after the Department of Education found that the school repeatedly violated federal campus safety laws, including in its handling of sexual assault cases.
The 108-page report, released Tuesday, details Liberty’s numerous violations of the Clery Act, which requires that universities participating in federal student aid programs report campus crime statistics and safety policies.
The Liberty administration repeatedly punished sexual assault survivors for speaking up and for violating the student honor code — which bars premarital sex — while their assailants went unpunished, creating a “culture of silence” on campus that dissuaded victims from reporting assaults, the report said. The university also failed to notify the campus about situations that could have endangered students‘ safety, to collect accurate or complete crime records, and to protect whistleblowers from retaliation.
Here’s a sampling of the extent of Liberty’s knowing violation of its safety policies, according to the report:
The University did issue an Emergency Notification on March 30, 2016, in response to a credible on-campus bomb threat. At that time, the most senior officials were concerned about the attention that the notice generated and took steps to ensure that the issuance of Emergency Notifications did not become a common occurrence. At least one LUPD officer was subjected to disciplinary action for issuing the notice even though it was issued in conformity with Federal law and the institution’s published policy at the time. Following the disciplinary action, the University stopped issuing Emergency Notifications in response to crime-related threats.
Liberty had marketed itself as having among the safest campuses in the nation. In a response to the Education Department’s findings, the school acknowledged “numerous deficiencies that existed in the past” and said it is taking steps to address them. At the same time, the university accused the department of subjecting it to “selective and unfair treatment” and an “unprecedented and arduous process” in its review.
House Republicans also pushed back against the investigation and suggested that the Education Department was singling out religious institutions. In January, Reps. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., and James Comer, R-Ky., wrote a letter to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona saying that the department “seems to be targeting religious institutions through program reviews and fines that greatly exceed established and documented precedent.”
The $14 million fine is the largest settlement over violations of the Clery Act to date.
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