In December 2006, 22-year-old Laura Dickinson was
raped and murdered in her own dorm room at Eastern Michigan University. What
was already a devastating tragedy was made even worse by the way EMU handled
it. EMU failed to disclose Laura’s death as a murder, and hid all the details
of the event from Laura’s parents as well as the EMU community.
Laura was found in her dorm room after residents on
her floor had complained about an oder. The custodian found Laura bare waist
down with a pillow covering her face. Her parents had been looking for her for
four days and even contacted the school but no one cared to search. The
official statement EMU released after Laura's body was found was that she had
died from "natural causes," and that is what they led her family to
believe. But the interesting thing was Laura was a healthy 22-year-old girl
that happened to have a freak accident.
Ten weeks later, Orange Taylor III,
also a EMU student was arrested for the rape and murder of Laura Dickinson (he was also convicted).
This news shocked everyone because no one knew there was an investigation going
on or that she died from other reason than "natural causes." EMU had
swept this case and information under the rug so no one knew what was going on
and the board refused to comment on the situation. Laura's parents were
outraged when they learned the truth of how their daughter died and her father
stated: “The school lied to us. They let us bury her
thinking that a healthy 22-year-old girl died by some freak accident."
Under federal law it states the school has to inform students of all
crimes that occur on or near campus that post a potential threat to public
safety. In 1990 this law was passed because of a similar case with Jeanne Clery
thus this law being called the Clery Act. EMU was clearly under violation, not
only was it immoral for not informing their staff and student body but also
illegal.
EMU never did say why they kept quiet about the situation, but many
believe it was in effort to keep the universities reputation. The school
officials indeed put their students and faculty in danger through the duration
of this even and could have been handled much better if they would have told
the truth.
Murders and rapes happen on college campuses more than we would like to
think. So it is very important that student and parents become well aware of
the college they’re attending before making their final decision.
Go to the solutions tab to learn the outcome of this case and some
safety features the University of Kentucky in particular has to offer.
