The Hartford Courant is reporting that a federal lawsuit has been filed against Wesleyan, the Beta Theta Pi fraternity, and "the Mu Epsilon chapter of the fraternity and the Raimond Duy Baird
Memorial Association, owners of the fraternity house property."
According to the report in the Couant, the lawsuit claims that the administration failed to protect the victim after the rape, allowing " outrageous sexual harassment and intimidation that followed her everywhere on campus."
The rape followed serious discussion on campus, about several instance of rape, and the inability of "on-campus justice" to handle the problem and counsel the victim. The rape also followed a controversy in which a self-identified student rape victim wrote about her experience in the Wesleyan Student newspaper the Argus.
I read the very thorough Courant article - really seems like egregious actions / lack of action on the part of the University. I am in support of the victim! I hope the atmosphere will improve in the future too.
ReplyDeleteI truly feel for these girls, especially in the way they were duped by campus authorities. Since when is Wesleyan University a sovereign nation with its own laws?? Ladies, if you are sexually assaulted you absolutely must call the real police, go to an ER and get a physically examined and have DNA evidence taken. Then, God willing, the RAPIST who attacked you is arrested, tried and sent to prison. I don't care if he's some trust fund hipster. He is a criminal. Honestly, where the Hell does this university get off thinking they can resolve violent crimes by what, suspension for a semester? I hope the University does get sued and pays millions. Maybe then, the almighty dollar will have spoken and these administrators will finally wake the F*&C% up!
ReplyDeleteJennifer Peifer
One would think that members of a university judicial board who are aware that a crime has been committed but fail to report it to the police would be considered accessories after the fact.
ReplyDeletePerhaps a few well-publicized arrests of members of these non-lawful courts would cause universities to restrict their deliberations to matters of academic integrity, and leave criminal behavior to the proper authorities.