Misplaced Pages

Murder of Laura Dickinson

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by CraigMonroe (talk | contribs) at 19:28, 13 November 2009 (←Created page with '=Laura Dickinson murder= On December 15, 2006, EMU student Laura Dickinson's body was found in her dorm room at Hill Hall. EMU issued a statement the next day that ...'). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Revision as of 19:28, 13 November 2009 by CraigMonroe (talk | contribs) (←Created page with '=Laura Dickinson murder= On December 15, 2006, EMU student Laura Dickinson's body was found in her dorm room at Hill Hall. EMU issued a statement the next day that ...')(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)

Laura Dickinson murder

On December 15, 2006, EMU student Laura Dickinson's body was found in her dorm room at Hill Hall. EMU issued a statement the next day that foul play was not suspected, but EMU student Orange Amir Taylor III was arrested February 23, 2007 and charged with her rape and murder. Many Eastern Michigan students were especially skeptical of their university's compliance with the law because of this delay. According to police reports, the investigation was regarded as a homicide; however, this was denied and only officially announced on the day of Taylor's arrest. His arrest happened to be the first day students could not withdraw from classes and housing for a full refund. A subsequent investigation by Detroit law firm Butzel Long found that EMU had violated the Clery Act by not notifying students and named Vice President of Student Affairs, Jim Vick, as the main source of the cover-up. The report led the investigation of many high-level administrators.

The nationally reported scandal resulted in the firing of President John A. Fallon by the Board of Regents. He was notified of the unanimous vote of the Board to fire him by a letter sent to his home on July 15, 2007. Although no formal reason for the termination was given, his dismissal was considered by many to be a direct result of his role in the cover-up of the on-campus homicide. Eastern Michigan's Faculty Association President supported the Board's decision.

At a special meeting called by the Board of Regents on Monday, July 16, 2007, the separation of President John Fallon was officially announced along with the separation of Jim Vick, Vice President for Student Affairs and Cindy Hall, Director of Public Safety and Chief of Police. A letter of discipline was placed in University Counsel Kenneth McKanders' file. It was also announced that Donald Loppnow, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, would be appointed Executive Vice President and in this role serve as Acting President until an Interim President is selected.

As of July 3, 2007 the Department of Education report relating to the Clery Act violations has been released to the public. It states, "Several findings of noncompliance were discovered during the review which the Department considers to be serious violations of the Clery Act." The result of this report has yet to be seen. EMU released the executive summary of its response to the DOE report on July 27, 2007. In June 2008, the university announced that it had agreed to pay a fine of $350,000 for the violations of the Clery Act.

On December 13, 2007, EMU settled with the family and estate of Laura Dickinson for $2.5 million. The settlement does not include any admission of liability by EMU.

On April 7, 2008, a jury convicted Orange Taylor III of first-degree murder, assault with intent to commit sexual penetration, home invasion, and theft charges. He was sentenced to life imprisonment on May 7, 2008.

  1. ABC News. Good Morning America.Mystery at Eastern Michigan University
  2. Huffstutter. P.J. Los Angeles Times online. June 19, 2007
  3. "University president fired after alleged rape cover-up" - CNN.com, July 16, 2007
  4. "Fallon administration over at EMU, regents confirm" -
  5. "EMU president, two others fired over cover up accusations" -
  6. United States Department of Education. DOE Draft Report.
  7. Chronicle of Higher EducationJuly 5, 2007
  8. Larcom, Geoff (June 6, 2008). "Eastern Michigan University to pay $350,000 in federal fines over Laura Dickinson case". The Ann Arbor New. Retrieved 2008-08-01.
  9. "Mich. College to Pay $2.5M in Dorm Death"
  10. "Man convicted in Mich student's slaying"
  11. "Orange Taylor Sentenced to Life"