CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Marshall University will face a full Clery Act review from the U.S. Department of Education after missing the federal deadline to report crime statistics and failing to alert students about a reported gang rape on campus.
Four males allegedly sexually assaulted a female and another male in one of the university’s freshmen dormitories on Sept. 12, reports the Gazette. However, Marshall officials did not issue an alert to students, despite the Clery Act’s guidelines that state officials must alert the campus population whenever a serious crime is reported. The university maintains that a timely warning was not necessary.
Furthermore, some faculty members said they had never seen an annual report on campus police procedures.
The Clery Act requires all universities to post their security reports online and/or distribute them to students before Oct. 1. Additionally, crime statistics from the previous three years must be released before the same deadline. Marshall was two weeks late distributing its security report and crime statistics.
The school could face a $27,500 fine for each potential Clery Act violation.
As for the sexual assault case, the rape investigation was closed because of a lack of evidence, according to Marshall officials.
