Penn State Accepts Record $2.4 Million Clery Act Fine

Penn State will not appeal the record $2.4 million fine levied by the Department of Education for violations of the Clery Act, university President Eric Barron announced Friday.

‘As the Department of Education was compiling its final report, we appreciated the opportunity to provide context and perspective where we disagreed with the findings,’ Barron said in a message posted on the university website. ‘Despite that, we have accepted the fines and will continue to focus on our ongoing Clery compliance. It is Penn State’s goal to not only meet the standards articulated by the Department of Education, as we believe we currently do, but to set a new standard for Clery compliance in higher education.’

Penn State had until Friday to notify the department if it would contest the findings and fines.

Earlier this month the department released a 239-page Final Program Review Determination with results of an investigation that began five years ago following the arrest of Jerry Sandusky on child sexual abuse charges. The sweeping investigation was the most intensive in the history of the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act.

The review identified 11 violations and proposed fines for each. Only one was directly related to Sandusky and carried a $27,500 fine. The review looked at how Penn State handled campus crime reports from 1998 to 2011.

The others included:

– Lack of administrative capability as a result of the University’s substantial failures to comply with the Clery Act and the Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act throughout the review period, including insufficient training, support, and resources to ensure compliance (fine: $27,500)

– Omitted and/or inadequate annual security report and annual fire safety report policy statements (fine: $37,500).

– Failure to issue timely warnings in accordance with federal regulations.

– Failure to properly classify reported incidents and disclose crime statistics from 2008-2011 (fine: $2,167,500).

– Failure to establish an adequate system for collecting crime statistics from all required sources (fine: $27,500).

– Failure to maintain an accurate and complete daily crime log.

– Reporting discrepancies in crime statistics published in the annual security report and those reported to the department’s campus crime statistics database (fine: $27,500).

– Failure to publish and distribute an annual security report in accordance with federal regulations (fine: $27,500).

– Failure to notify prospective students and employees of the availability of the annual security report and annual fire safety report (fine: $27,500).

– Failure to comply with the Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act (fine: $27,500).

Barron noted the actions the university has taken over the past five years to strengthen its Clery Act compliance.

‘Today, Penn State has robust Clery training and collection processes in place,’ he said. ‘We have many initiatives, including 18 focused on fighting sexual assault and misconduct, with the creation of new positions, mandatory employee training, a universal hotline and many others. Penn State has endorsed a standard of strict compliance, particularly over the past five years, and we will continue, and add as needed, numerous and vigorous efforts to create a culture of reporting, safety and accountability.’

The previous largest fine issued for Clery Act violations was $357,500 for Eastern Michigan University’s failure to warn its campus about the 2006 assault and murder of a student. Eastern Michigan settled with the DOE for $350,000.