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Forced Out EMU Officials Get $550,000

YPSILANTI Mich.
Three university administrators who were forced out this
week after their school was accused of covering up the dorm room rape and
killing of a student will receive nearly $550,000 in severance packages,
documents show.

Eastern Michigan University President John Fallon, who was
fired, will get the equivalent of one year’s salary, $225,000, under his
contract, university spokesman Ward Mullens said.

Vice President of Student Affairs Jim Vick and Public Safety
Director Cindy Hall will be allowed to retire and collect pensions and
benefits, according their severance agreements, obtained by The Ann Arbor News
under the Freedom of Information Act. They also will get a year’s salary under
the agreements, together totaling $245,253, plus vacation and sick time.

Vick, who worked at Eastern for 34 years, told the newspaper
he felt the settlement was fair. Fallon hasn’t returned calls seeking comment
but has indicated he intends to speak out.

The cover-up allegations surfaced several weeks after the
Dec. 15 death of Eastern Michigan student Laura Dickinson, 22, whose body was
found in her dorm room. At the time of her death, university officials told her
parents and the media that there was no sign of foul play, despite evidence to
the contrary.

It was not until another Eastern student was arrested in
late February and charged with murder that Dickinson’s family and fellow
students learned she had been raped and killed. The student accused in
Dickinson’s death, Orange Taylor III, of
Southfield, has pleaded not guilty to murder and criminal sexual conduct
charges. He is scheduled for trial Oct. 15.

An independent law firm investigation and U.S. Department of
Education report both found that Eastern Michigan violated the federal Clery
Act, which requires colleges and universities to disclose campus security
information.

The Board of Regents voted late Sunday to fire Fallon and on
Monday ousted Vick and Hall.

Many in the administration had been accused of covering up
the truth of Dickinson’s death and endangering students to protect the school’s
image.

“This board will not tolerate anyone who sabotages the
educational mission of this university by participating in these destructive
behavior patterns,” said the board’s chairman, Thomas Sidlik.

– Associated Press



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