The Department of Education (DOE) is imposing a fine on a Christian college in Virginia after they reportedly violated campus safety law.
Liberty University has been fined a record $14 million for violating the Clery Act, which requires colleges to report crime statistics and security information, according to Liberty University’s website. (RELATED: Virginia Department Of Health Investigating Illness Sweeping Liberty University)
Some of the reasons the department cited included failure to “implement an adequate system of internal controls to properly report, investigate, and adjudicate crime, including acts of sexual misconduct” and ” issue Emergency Notifications to advise the campus community about emergencies or dangerous situations that may have posed a threat to health or safety.”
In response to the fine, the college disagreed with the “unfair treatment,” as the “methodologies, findings, and calculations in the report were drastically different from their historic treatment of other universities,” the college shared.
Despite the disagreement, the college and the DOE negotiated a final settlement and outlined “the terms of the Department’s two-year post-monitoring process in a collaborative manner.”
It has also agreed to spend $2 million of “university funds, earmarked for new campus safety improvements” over the next two years, the college said.
The DOE released an over 100-page review report of the college, citing violations between the years 2016 and 2023, as shared by The Washington Post.
Liberty University slams Biden administration after $14 million fine https://t.co/LKktvczKj5 pic.twitter.com/joGsDcyXVf
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) March 5, 2024
The Daily Caller obtained an email sent out by Liberty University’s president Dondi Costin, in which he told students about the DOE’s Clery Act Program Review.
“While Liberty has not always agreed with its treatment by the Department, we concur that numerous compliance deficiencies existed in the past. Examples include incorrect statistical reports as well as necessary timely warnings and emergency notifications that were not sent properly. We acknowledge and sincerely regret these errors and have since corrected them in a manner that allows us to maintain compliance in each of these areas,” Costin said.
Mia Hernandez contributed to this report.