Spurred by a ProPublica investigation, the federal Department of Education found the evangelical school in Virginia had discouraged students from reporting rape and other crimes.
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The federal Department of Education has announced a historic $14 million fine against Liberty University for failing to properly handle reports of sexual assault and other campus safety isssues.
Universities are required by law to support victims of violence. The Education Department found that the Christian evangelical Liberty University had fundamentally failed to do so. Sexual assault victims were “punished for violating the student code of conduct,” the report concluded, “while their assailants were left unpunished.”
The government found that Liberty’s actions had created a “culture of silence.”
The findings, which the department announced Tuesday, echo a ProPublica investigation that detailed how officials had discouraged and dismissed women who tried to come forward with accounts of sexual assault. Women who went to school officials to report being raped recalled being threatened with punishment for breaking the university’s strict moral code, known as “The Liberty Way.”
CONTINUE > https://www.propublica.org/article/liberty-university-fined-sexual-assault-safety
