Liberty College, the evangelical Christian college in Lynchburg, Va., agreed to pay a document $14 million effective for breaking federal campus security legal guidelines, the Schooling Division introduced on Tuesday, accusing the varsity of making a “tradition of silence” that discouraged the reporting of crimes and repeatedly mishandling sexual assaults.
In a 108-page report, the division discovered specific issues with how the college dealt with sexual misconduct, together with that it had punished a number of sexual assault victims for violating the coed honor code, which prohibits premarital intercourse, whereas failing to punish their assailants. In consequence, sexual assaults generally went unreported, the division stated.
The report additionally stated Liberty discouraged workers members from sending out emergency notifications, failing to inform college students of harmful occasions corresponding to campus bomb threats and fuel leaks. And it accused the college of aggrandizing itself publicly as one of many most secure faculties within the nation whereas sustaining little knowledge on campus crime and offering statistics it couldn’t again up with official data.
The motion is the most recent blow to the standing of Liberty, which was based by the conservative pastor and political activist Jerry Falwell Sr. and has grown into one of many nation’s most distinguished evangelical establishments, with a sprawling campus and an endowment of greater than $2 billion. Mr. Falwell’s son, Jerry Falwell Jr., resigned as president in 2020 amid a intercourse scandal, and was sued by the college for $40 million in damages the following yr for numerous breaches of contract.
The penalty on Tuesday, which dwarfed each earlier effective the division had levied for such violations, is a part of a settlement settlement with the college after a overview by the division revealed “materials and ongoing violations” of the Clery Act. The legislation requires that faculties collaborating in federal monetary assist packages report knowledge on campus crime and help victims of sexual assault.
Along with the effective, the college agreed to spend $2 million over two years to keep up a compliance committee and make campus security enhancements. The division stated it might monitor the college till April 2026.
“The $14 million effective and different remedial actions imposed on this settlement mirror the intense and longstanding nature of Liberty’s violations, which undermined campus security for college students, school and workers,” the division stated in a press release.
In a press release posted on-line, the college acknowledged most of the violations cited by the Schooling Division over the seven-year interval it reviewed, however stated the varsity had been singled out and scrutinized way more aggressively than different establishments.
“Whereas the college maintains that we have now repeatedly endured selective and unfair therapy by the division, the college additionally concurs there have been quite a few deficiencies that existed up to now,” the assertion stated. “We acknowledge and remorse these previous failures and have taken these essential enhancements significantly.”
The division’s overview, which started in 2022, got here on the heels of a lawsuit wherein a complete of twenty-two girls joined a lawsuit in opposition to Liberty College. A number of the girls stated they have been raped or skilled sexual violence due to negligent insurance policies and a tradition that discouraged reporting sexual misconduct.
The Schooling Division is within the closing phases of unveiling new guidelines on sexual misconduct, redefining provisions of Title IX, a 1972 legislation that prohibits sex-based discrimination in federally funded faculties.
These adjustments are anticipated to increase stronger protections to victims of sexual assault on school campuses, undoing guidelines set underneath the Trump administration that supplied extra deference to college students accused of sexual misconduct to defend themselves.
In imposing the effective on Tuesday, the division went far past earlier Clery Act penalties that got here in response to high-profile circumstances involving widespread sexual assault perpetuated by college workers members in opposition to college students.
The effective eclipsed the then-record $4.5 million penalty handed all the way down to Michigan State College in 2019 over the sexual abuse dedicated by Lawrence G. Nassar. Mr. Nassar was convicted of molesting tons of of women and girls, all whereas serving as a longtime sports activities doctor for pupil athletes at a Michigan State College clinic.
It additionally far exceeded the $2.4 million levied in opposition to Penn State after the conviction of Jerry Sandusky, an assistant soccer coach, for sexually abusing 10 boys.
