Campus Alert Archive
EMU

Ten Weeks of Silence: How Eastern Michigan Hid the Murder of Laura Dickinson and Earned the Largest Pre-2008 Clery Fine

MIsexual assaultadvisorymedium confidence
Confirmed Threat

On December 13, 2006, 22-year-old EMU student Laura Dickinson was raped and murdered in her Hill Hall dormitory room by fellow student Orange Taylor III. Three days later, EMU emailed the campus that Dickinson had died with "no reason to suspect foul play", even though university police were investigating the death as a homicide. The truth was disclosed only on February 23, 2007 — ten weeks later — when Taylor was arrested. The U.S. Department of Education subsequently fined EMU $357,500, then the largest Clery Act penalty ever imposed.

Alerts
3
Response
—
Killed
1
Injured
0
Institution
Eastern Michigan University
Public R2 · MI
~12,600 studentsEagle Alerts
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

3 messages in sequence

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTEmail
Approximate reconstruction272 chars
It is with deep regret that the University announces the death of Laura Dickinson, a 22-year-old EMU senior, in her residence hall room. At this point, there is no reason to suspect foul play. The University extends its sympathies to the family during this difficult time.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

The phrase 'no reason to suspect foul play' was the central misrepresentation later cited in the U.S. Department of Education's Clery Act fine
EMU police officers had documented the scene as a probable homicide on December 13, 2006, three days before this email was sent
Reconstructed timestamp uses end-of-day December 16, 2006 as a placeholder; the exact email send time was not preserved in publicly available records
CORRECTIONEmail
Approximate reconstruction380 chars
Eastern Michigan University announces the arrest of Orange Amir Taylor III, a current EMU student, in connection with the December 13 death of student Laura Dickinson. The University acknowledges that Ms. Dickinson's death is being investigated as a homicide. The University will cooperate fully with law enforcement and is reviewing its communication and notification procedures.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

DNA evidence from semen found on Dickinson's legs identified Taylor as the perpetrator
The ten-week gap between the December 13 death and the February 23 announcement that the death was a homicide became central to the federal Clery Act investigation
Taylor was a current EMU student when the murder occurred; he was arrested on the EMU campus
FOLLOW-UPWebsite
Approximate reconstruction432 chars
Eastern Michigan University has agreed to pay a fine of $357,500 to the U.S. Department of Education for violations of the Clery Act in connection with the December 2006 death of Laura Dickinson. The University accepts the findings of the Department of Education and has implemented a series of reforms, including a new emergency alert system, revised timely warning procedures, and an independent review of campus safety reporting.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

The $357,500 fine was the largest Clery Act penalty in the Act's history at the time, surpassing earlier fines against Salem International University
EMU's new emergency alert system, deployed in 2007, used the Connect-ED platform and was a direct response to both the Dickinson cover-up and the Virginia Tech shooting
Reconstructed timestamp is based on the publicly reported announcement window in early June 2008
Context

Background

The murder of Laura Dickinson on December 13, 2006, in her Hill Hall dormitory room, and Eastern Michigan University's subsequent ten-week refusal to characterize the death as a homicide, became the most consequential Clery Act enforcement action of the 2000s. EMU police documented the scene as a probable homicide on the day Dickinson's body was found; semen on her legs was sent for DNA analysis; and yet on December 16, 2006, the university sent a campus-wide email saying there was "no reason to suspect foul play." That phrasing was repeated for ten weeks. Only on February 23, 2007, when DNA matched fellow student Orange Taylor III, did the university acknowledge the homicide. Within months, the Board of Regents fired President John A. Fallon, the Vice President for Student Affairs, and the Director of Public Safety. The U.S. Department of Education found that EMU had violated the Clery Act's timely warning, emergency notification, and crime reporting requirements, and assessed a $357,500 fine — at the time the largest in the Act's history. The case is the most cited single institution-level reason for the Higher Education Opportunity Act amendments of 2008, which strengthened Clery Act enforcement and required campuses to deploy emergency notification systems with multi-channel mass-distribution capability.
Analysis

Key Findings

EMU's December 16, 2006 email containing the phrase 'no reason to suspect foul play' became the most-cited single sentence in Clery Act enforcement history
The ten-week gap between the homicide and the university's acknowledgment was the basis for the $357,500 federal fine, then the largest in Clery Act history
The cover-up directly produced the firing of the EMU president, the vice president for student affairs, and the director of public safety in July 2007
Combined with the Virginia Tech shooting four months later, the Dickinson case is one of the two most cited institutional events behind the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008's strengthened Clery Act amendments
Outcome
Orange Taylor III was convicted of murder. EMU President John A. Fallon, Vice President for Student Affairs Jim Vick, and Director of Public Safety Cindy Hall were all fired by the EMU Board of Regents in July 2007. The U.S. Department of Education's $357,500 Clery Act fine in June 2008 was, at the time, the largest in the Act's history.
Provenance

Sources

  1. Source
    Murder of Laura Dickinson (Wikipedia)
    en.wikipedia.org
  2. Source
    School Accused of Covering Up Student's Murder - ABC News
    abcnews.go.com
  3. Source
    Campus Cover-Up In Student's Murder? - CBS News
    cbsnews.com
  4. Source
    EMU President, Two Others Fired Over Alleged Murder Cover-up - Fox News
    foxnews.com
  5. Official
    Laura Dickinson collection - Eastern Michigan University Archives
    aspace.emich.edu
Tags
murdersexual-assaultdormitoryclery-violationcover-upfederal-fine2006historicalhill-hallfounding-event
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion