The Department of Education has yet to issue an update to LSU on a 2021 Clery Act investigation regarding a search on the university’s compliance with safety legislation.
On Feb. 2, 2021 the Department of Education sent a letter to LSU requesting that the school provide records of all incidents of crime, including sexual assault and other Title IX offenses, between 2016-2019, as well as its annual security and fire safety reports from 2017-2020 and organizational charts for LSU Greek Life, LSU Athletics and LSU Residential Life.
According to the letter sent to former Interim-President of LSU Thomas Galligan, the Department of Education received complaints that alleged “the University engaged in a pattern of conduct that resulted in serious violations of the Clery Act.”
The Clery Act is named after Jeanne Clery, a 19-year old who was killed in her residence hall at Lehigh University in 1986. It is a federal statute requiring all colleges and universities to track and disclose information about crimes that occur on campus to maintain federal funding.
President of SAFE Campuses and Clery Act advocate S. Daniel Carter said some provisions of the Clery Act include requiring universities to post records of security reports and crime logs, notify students and employees when there are threats to safety and security and publish campus crime statistics from each year.
“The institutions must issue an emergency notification,” Carter said. “It doesn’t have to be a Clery crime. It can be a fire, a terrorist attack, it can be a tornado. It has to be issued.”
According to the letter, part of the investigation deals with LSU’s handling of sexual assault cases and if it was transparent in reporting crime and abuse on campus.
Though the investigation is apparently unresolved, a 2020 investigation from USA Today found that, in three separate cases, “rather than expelling or suspending male students found responsible for sexual assault, LSU allowed them to stay on campus.” In some cases, the university allowed the men to stay in the same class as the people they assaulted.
USA Today reported that multiple LSU officials knew what was happening and willfully ignored the accusations or swept them under the rug. The reporting also found that “at least nine LSU football players have been reported to police for sexual misconduct and dating violence since coach Ed Orgeron took over the team.”
LSU hired a law firm to investigate the attention Title IX reports received on campus. The Husch-Blackwell report, issued in 2021, concluded that LSU’s athletic department continuously decided not to alert the police and the Title IX Office of reports of sexual misconduct.
In 2024, LSU agreed to pay almost $2 million to settle a case brought by 10 former LSU students over the university’s handling of potential Title IX violations.
Though LSU reached that settlement with former students, the Department of Education has not announced findings from its investigation publicly.
Along with the alleged Clery Act violations, the Department of Education’s investigation aimed to evaluate the university’s compliance with Higher Education Opportunity Act fire safety provisions and the Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act.
The document stated that the university had to provide records by March of 2021.
Chief Communication Officer of the LSU System Meg Sunstrom said that LSU has not received an update from the Department of Education on the case since the initial request was made in 2021.
“LSU complied and cooperated with all of the requests made by the federal government and have met our obligations to date,” Sunstrom said.
According to a Freedom of Information Act request Carter filed on July 24, the Department of Education said that no update could be provided as the investigation was still ongoing.
However, Carter sent another request on Feb. 26, and it did not specify if the case was still ongoing. Carter believes that the investigation is still open.
“[Sunstrom]’s statement effectively confirms that the investigation remains open, which I know was an outstanding question based on the last FOIA response I received,” Carter said.
In a Clery case with Liberty University in 2024, the Department of Education concluded the investigation in two years. It issued a fine of $14 million for failing to maintain a crime log, issue timely warrants and comply with sexual violence prevention and response requirements.
Higher profile cases, such as the Penn State sexual abuse scandal, the Department of Education’s investigation took upwards of five to six years to conclude.
“Speculating, but I don’t think it’s fair to the parties that complained that led to this investigation, or to LSU or to the LSU community that this investigation was intended to protect for this to be hanging over everyone’s head for five to six years,” Carter said.
If the investigation found that LSU violated the Clery Act, the university could have lost Title IV funding, which affects federal financial aid for students.
In 2016 it was ruled that the Department of Education must issue a civil penalty for violations of the Clery Act within five years, meaning the deadline for the Department of Education to issue a fine to LSU expired last month.
“The Department of Education can still issue a finding that the violation occurred, but they cannot impose a civil penalty for it,” Carter said.
The Trump administration is working to dismantle the Department of Education after terminating almost half of its employees last year, which the Department of Education’s Sec. Linda McMahon said was part of the administration’s “final mission.” The administration would need the support of Congress to abolish the department.
Shannon Larkin, a junior mass communication student, said it is important for the Clery Act to exist, and it is critical for LSU to get the results of the investigation back in a timely manner.
“I think they should be a bit quicker with how long they take to give out certain information, especially if it involves the student’s safety on campus,” Larkin said.
Another student, Jake O’Brien, a mass communication senior, said that it is important for the school to be held accountable and for students who were involved to get justice.
Carter reiterated the importance of the Clery Act, not because of any monetary benefit for the Department of Education, but for a safer campus where student safety is the priority.
“I think LSU is owed a faster resolution than they have received,” Carter said. “Whenever this comes out, there invariably [is] going to be some critical press coverage. I don’t think deferring it forever will change that.”
The Department of Education did not respond to the Reveille request for comment or update.
