Liberty University will be fined a record $14 million for violating federal laws designed to boost safety on campus.
The Department of Education issued a 100-page report following a two-year monitoring period that found the private Christian university discouraged the reporting of crimes and didn't warn the campus about gas leaks, bomb threats and reports of sexual violence, reported the Washington Post.
“Students, faculty, and staff deserve to know that they can be safe and secure in their school communities. We respond aggressively to complaints about campus safety and security,” said Rich Cordray, the chief operating officer of the Federal Student Aid Office of the Education Department.
“Through the Clery Act schools are obligated to take action that creates safe and secure campus communities, investigate complaints, and responsibly disclose information about crimes and other safety concerns. We will continue to hold schools accountable if they fail to do so.”
A draft of the confidential preliminary report obtained by the newspaper also claimed that Liberty officials destroyed evidence after the agency's inquiry began in response to a May 2021 complaint.
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Although the university founded by the late Jerry Falwell Sr. and later run by his namesake son is private, all schools that take part in federal financial aid programs must comply with the federal Clery Act, which requires timely reporting of crime statistics and other information about campus safety.
Liberty was ordered to spend $2 million on campus safety improvements in addition to funds already budgeted for Clery compliance during a two-year monitoring period after the government's review.
The university disputed some of the agency's preliminary findings, saying those included “significant errors, misstatements, and unsupported conclusions," and Republican Reps. James Comer (R-KY), Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and Bob Good (R-VA) sent a letter to education secretary Miguel Cardona complaining that the department appeared to be "targeting religious institutions."
Jerry Falwell Jr., one of the first evangelical leaders to embrace Donald Trump, spent millions of dollars of the nonprofit religious institution’s funds to promote the Trump administration and Republican causes before resigning after a series of personal scandals.