Liberty University President Dr. Dondi E. Costin told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that the Department of Education “used a completely different standard” when investigating federal campuses’ compliance with safety standards.
LU was ordered to pay 1,400 from the Office of Federal Student Aid as a result of a settlement agreement regarding “Jeanne Clery’s disclosure of campus security policies and serious and continuing violations of the Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act), including with respect to her disclosed crimes.” A fine of $10,000. Statistics and treatment of sexual assault victims. ”
“As we were deciding how to approach the Department of Education about what we considered to be reasonable and fair findings based on historical norms, we realized that they were using completely different criteria than we were. We found out that there are,” Kostin said.
Liberty University’s chief compliance officer said that based on a review of all publicly available Clery Act program reviews and penalty notices, ED’s approach to fines against LUs is “unprecedented” and that “the department’s longstanding “Given precedent, there is no basis for imposing such an excessive fine,” he added. ”
Compliance Officer Ashley Reich explained that the ED was found to be “deviating from traditional practices.”
“For example, for violations of administrative capacity, campus security authorities, policy statements, etc., the Department has traditionally applied one-time fines, which are typically much higher than the one-year legal maximum. It was low,” Reich said.
She continued, “For Liberty University, the Department proposed to impose a fine at the maximum annual fine during the review period within the statute of limitations (5 years), which is the difference between the average fine of other universities. $37,000 (in administrative capacity) compared to the maximum fine for Liberty University of $337,720.
Mr. Reich went on to give similar examples of “excess fines” for violating crime statistics and filling out daily criminal records.
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President Biden and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona. (Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images | Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Kostin also said the team “examined” 60 previous reports on Clery Act compliance by comparing the Department of Education’s methodology in investigating LU with other educational institutions’ compliance with federal safety standards. ” he explained.
“There was a clear difference,” Kostin says.
He added: “On the surface, it was really just a question of how the calculations were done. And in our case, the calculations were done fundamentally differently than in previous cases. ”, he explained.
The amount LU was ordered to pay is the largest fine ever imposed for a violation of the Clery Act.
Colleges and universities participating in federal financial aid programs must keep and disclose crime statistics and other timely information about campus safety. In 2020-2021, Liberty University received $874 million in student loans and grants from the Department of Education.
As part of the settlement, Liberty University, the most influential Christian university in the United States, agreed to spend “$2 million over the next two years to improve safety and strengthen compliance on campus.” An external accounting firm will monitor its progress. countermeasure.
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Liberty University President Dr. Dondi E. Costin told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that the Department of Education “used a completely different standard” when investigating federal campuses’ compliance with safety standards. (Lee Coleman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Among the findings was a lack of management capacity, meaning LU took no action to meet Clery Act compliance standards between 2016 and 2023. In addition, universities are required to comply with the Clery Act’s sexual violence prevention and response requirements;, The ED submitted that the LU did not comply with the requirements for offenses against women as it did not take action against such measures.
Among the 11 violations identified by the ED, the LU did not properly categorize and disclose crime statistics, the department reported. Schools are required to issue annual safety reports and make daily crime records publicly available, but the ED reported that “Liberty failed to maintain accurate and complete daily crime records during the review period.”
Kostin told Fox News Digital that some of the findings were not upheld during discussions with ED.
Ahead of the settlement, LU disputed other findings in the leaked preliminary report, including reports of sexual assault allegations by university executives and questions about the university’s “honor code,” which encourages chastity. denied some of the accusations contained in the report, including that it was stipulated in the It prevents victims and witnesses of sexual assault from speaking up.
The leak came as LU was arguing that there were no Clery Act violations.
While they were addressing their concerns last fall, Kostin was concerned that leaking the ED’s findings to the media would affect negotiations with the Department of Education, and that someone might “poison the well.” I thought that he may have leaked the report in order to get in.
In addition, the school was threatened with an unprecedented $37.5 million fine at the time, which was far greater than the $4.5 million fine imposed on the state of Michigan in the Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal. The amount was much higher than the fines recently imposed on universities by the ministry. .
Kostin increased scrutiny of Clery Act compliance.
LU receives $14 million from the Office of Federal Student Aid as a result of a settlement agreement regarding “Jeanne Clery’s disclosure of campus security policies and serious and continuing violations of the Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act), including:” was ordered to pay a fine. Respect published crime statistics and the treatment of sexual assault victims. ” (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
“This Liberty investigation was expedited and rushed in at least an unusual manner,” Kostin added.
“Is it because we’re a faith-based organization? Is it because we’re politically conservative? I can’t answer that. But what I’m saying is that when this administration has taken that stance, “It’s at least strange that something like this happened to a school like ours and an organization like ours,” he said.
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Liberty, co-founded by Christian Right activist and televangelist Jerry Falwell Sr., is known for its conservative honor code, which regulates personal behavior, including a ban on premarital sex. He is also known for his strong ties to prominent Republicans such as former President Trump.
Located in Lynchburg, Virginia, Liberty serves more than 130,000 students, including online programs.
The Department of Education did not respond to requests for comment.
