I know this has been a very trying time for the university community now that a suspect has been arraigned in the death of EMU student Laura Dickinson. That is why I feel it is important to clarify the recent findings from the Michigan State Crime Lab regarding Laura’s death.

I would like to emphasize that this has been a very complicated case from the beginning because the body was discovered several days after her death in December 2006. The Michigan State Police Crime Lab was called in because there was no obvious cause of death. This is standard procedure in cases like this.

During the past two months, the police continued to investigate the case while waiting for further test results. Some of those results were released late Friday afternoon (February 23, 2007). At this point, based upon these results and the ongoing investigation, a suspect was identified. And the police acted upon that evidence. As soon as the EMU police and EMU Ombudsman Greg Peoples personally notified Laura’s parents, the university distributed an e-mail to the university community and posted a related message on the university’s home page.

Despite the charges, there still is no official cause of death. As soon as we get updates from the police, we will notify you immediately through the home page, e-mail and other appropriate communication channels.

University administrators have been meeting with students in the residence halls and will continue to do so when students return from winter recess. The university is also planning to host open town hall meetings for the campus community the week of March 4.

Please plan to monitor your e-mail and the EMU home page for future updates on these meetings and the investigation. Our goal is to share investigation updates as soon as they are available.

The university considers human safety to be its single most important priority. Many changes have been made during the past two years to enhance and augment safety and security systems and approaches. And our efforts to make improvements will continue at every opportunity. Indeed, it will be our intent to complete yet another campus security audit in the weeks ahead.

If you have suggestions, concerns or questions, please e-mail me at john.fallon@emich.edu and the appropriate administrator or I will respond.

Toward a safer university community,

John A. Fallon, III
President