Eastern Michigan University violated a federal law on the reporting of campus crime when it described a dormitory murder last December as a death from natural causes for nearly two months — until a suspect was arrested in the case — according to an independent report released today.

The report, commissioned by the university’s Board of Regents and prepared by the law firm of Butzel Long, says Eastern Michigan did not comply with the federal Clery Act, which required it to issue a campus warning even if a homicide was only suspected. The report blames a number of university officials, but singles out in particular James F. Vick, vice president for student affairs, whose office shredded a document that described the condition and circumstances in which the victim’s body was found.

The student, Laura Dickinson, was found dead in her dormitory room on December 15. She was naked from the waist down, with her legs spread and a pillow over her face. A day later, the university announced the death by saying, “At this point, there is no reason to suspect foul play.” That remained the university’s view until late February, when another student, Orange Amir Taylor III, was charged with her murder.

Ms. Dickinson’s family and people on the campus immediately expressed shock at the apparent deception, and a campus-crime watchdog group complained to the Education Department that the university had violated the Clery Act in trying to hush up the murder. —Andrew Mytelka