University president fired after rape cover-up

July 17, 2007

Adapted from CNN.com

Three Eastern Michigan University administrators, including the president, have been forced out, months after top school officials were accused of covering up the rape and slaying of a student by publicly ruling out foul play.

The president was fired, and the vice president of student affairs and the public safety director lost their jobs at the 23,500-student public university, the chairman of the school's governing board said.

The board of regents chairman also said the board would put a letter of discipline in the file of the university attorney.

The body of the 22-year-old slain student was discovered last December in her dorm room. At the time, university officials told her parents and the media that she died of asphyxiation but that there was no sign of foul play, despite evidence to the contrary.

It was not until fellow student was arrested in February and charged with murder that her family and students learned she had been raped and killed. The accused has pleaded not guilty to murder and criminal sexual conduct charges in the woman’s death and is scheduled for trial in October.

An independent law firm investigation and a U.S. Department of Education report both found that the university violated the federal Clery Act, which requires colleges and universities to disclose campus security information.

Many in the administration were accused of covering up the truth and endangering students to protect the school's image, which has been marred in recent years by tensions with faculty, students and the community.

One board member said it became clear from conversations with the former president and his attorney that he was planning to take action during the next scheduled board meeting that would have damaged the university. As a result, the board unanimously voted to fire him.

Neither the board member nor other regents would elaborate on what the former president said he was planning.

The former president’s secretary did not know how he could be reached for further comment. He told the local newspaper that a termination letter indicated his office had been secured and that arrangements would be made for him to retrieve personal items. He said he was upset with how the board handled his firing.

"As a citizen, I am disappointed in this hastily called meeting, without any opportunity to be present or to respond," he said. "I have a story to tell and intend to tell it."

A gate prevented access to the front door of the man’s residence. A call placed to the residence from a telephone near the gate went unanswered.
He has 60 days to leave the property, board members said.

His salary was $225,000 a year. His contract was to run July 2010, according to a university spokesman. According to the terms of his contract, he would be paid the equivalent of one year's base salary if the board fired him.

The slain woman's father said anybody implicated in the federal report "should probably expect the same" fate as the former president.