Eastern Michigan University President Is Fired

YPSILANTI, Mich. — The president of Eastern Michigan University was fired, months after top university officials were accused of covering up the rape and slaying of a student by publicly ruling out foul play.The president, John Fallon, confirmed that he was fired Sunday evening by a unanimous vote of the Board of Regents, the Ann Arbor News reported yesterday. Board secretary Jackie Kurtz yesterday confirmed the firing to the Associated Press.Mr. Fallon told the newspaper that his termination letter was delivered Sunday night and did not state the reason he was losing his $225,000-a-year job. The letter said the board had voted unanimously to terminate his employment contract effective Sunday. His contract was to run until July 2010, and it was not clear what the terms of his separation would be. “As a citizen, I am disappointed in this hastily called meeting, without any opportunity to be present or to respond,” Mr. Fallon told the newspaper. “I have a story to tell and intend to tell it.”The president’s dismissal follows an independent law firm investigation and U.S. Department of Education report, both of which found that the 23,500-student public university violated the federal Clery Act, which requires colleges and universities to disclose campus security information.The body of the slain student, Laura Dickinson, 22, was discovered December 15 in her dorm room. At the time, university officials told her parents and the press that she died of asphyxiation but that there was no sign of foul play, despite evidence to the contrary.It wasn’t until another Eastern student was arrested in late February and charged with murder that her family and fellow students learned she had been raped and killed.The accused student, Orange Taylor III, of Southfield, has pleaded not guilty to murder and criminal sexual conduct charges in Dickinson’s death. He is scheduled for trial October 15.Many in the university’s administration were accused of covering up the truth and endangering students to protect the school’s image, which has been marred in recent years by tensions with facult y, students and the community.Robert Dickinson, the young woman’s father, said anybody implicated in the federal report “should probably expect the same” fate as Mr. Fallon.“I fire my baristas if they do wrong,” said Mr. Dickinson, who owns a coffee house. “The board of this school should do whatever they need to do. They need to follow the rules that they have set forth.”The board was expected to meet later yesterday to discuss the case. Still undetermined was the status of Vice President of Student Affairs Jim Vick and Public Safety Director Cindy Hall.University spokeswoman Pamela Young said she couldn’t discuss Mr. Fallon until after the meeting.Howard Bunsis, president of the faculty union, said yesterday that everyone involved in covering up information about Dickinson’s slaying should no longer be working for the university.“It’s now time for the university to move forward,” Mr. Bunsis said. “When I say move forward, I mean put a total focus on what happens in the classroom between students and faculty. We’ve had a difficult time.”

Eastern Michigan University President Is Fired

Eastern Michigan University President Is Fired

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