Virginia Tech fine too low
A file photo of people praying in front of a small pile of flowers, candles and other mementos left at a large makeshift memorial for all who died in the Virginia Tech shooting rampage of 2007. (May 11, 2007) Credit: Getty Images
What's the price of a human life?
Virginia Tech was fined a paltry $55,000 by the U.S. Department of Education for failing to send out timely notification that a gunman was loose on campus on April 16, 2007, the day four years ago this weekend that a student killed 32 and himself in a shooting massacre.
The school -- which sent a vague warning email two hours after the gunman's initial shooting and just minutes before he shot 47 more -- was penalized to the fullest extent allowable by the Clery Act of 1989, which requires schools that receive federal aid to provide timely warning in the event of a serious crime.
The maximum fine is curiously low and should be raised. But imposing it sends a clear message to universities: warning policies must be taken seriously. And if the penalty doesn't, the tragic result of the day should.
