Virginia Tech University allegedly violated the law by not notifying students in a timely manner about the shootings on campus in 2007, according to a U.S Department of Education report.
According to the report, Virginia Tech was in violation of the Clery Act, which requires students and employees be notified of threats on campus in a timely manner. The report also stated the university did not follow its own emergency procedures.
Virginia Tech officials sent out an e-mail to students and officials two hours after student Seung-Hui Cho shot and killed two students in a dorm, around the same time Cho was chaining the doors shut in a class building where he killed 30 more people.
Virginia Tech could lose up to $98 million in federal financial aid money and could be fined up to $55,000 for the two violations.The Department of Education has not released any time line for when sanctions would be given out, however.
Virginia Tech said in a statement they disagreed with the ruling and said they did not break any federal laws.
“Virginia Tech administrators acted appropriately in their response to the tragic events of April 16, 2007, based on the best information then available to them,” the university said in the statement.
The university said the Department of Education and the Clery Act does not define what “timely” means. It added the department’s own guidelines say 48 hours is acceptable.
“Today’s ruling could add even more confusion as to what constitutes a ‘timely warning’ at a time when unambiguous guidance is needed,” the statement said. “It appears that timely warning is whatever the Department of Education decides after the fact.”
The University of Wisconsin updated its alert system after the Virginia Tech shootings, UW Spokesperson John Lucas said.
UW Police Department Captain Mike Newton said the Wisc Alerts system can notify students and faculty in a variety of ways including e-mail, text messaging, Twitter and Facebook.
“We have lots of different mechanisms although we are hoping we never have to use them,” Newton said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
