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Title IX Complaints Filed Against American University, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Indiana University at Bloomington, and Monmouth University

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Title IX Complaints Filed Against American University, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Indiana University at Bloomington, and Monmouth University Title IX Complaints Filed Against American University, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Indiana University at Bloomington, and Monmouth University EMBARGOED UNTIL 12PM EST, TUESDAY, MARCH 8TH Sexual assault survivors filed federal Title IX complaints against four institutions for mishandling sexual assault cases to the U.S. Department of Education this week, according to the national survivor advocacy organization End Rape on Campus. The complaints come on the heels of a groundbreaking performance by Lady Gaga and featured 50 survivors at this year’s Academy Awards, highlighting the need for continuing the national dialogue about rape and sexual violence. The complaints against these schools — based in Washington, D.C., Indiana, Alabama, and New Jersey — are markedly similar. At all four universities, no­contact orders between the survivors and their perpetrators were not enforced, and several of the survivors were subjected to ongoing retaliation by their assailants and their assailants’ friends. All of the investigations into sexual assault, which were conducted by the schools, took significantly longer than the 60­day timeframe recommended by the U.S. Department of Education. Ultimately, all of the survivors’ perpetrators were either found not responsible or were given minimal sanctions, creating a hostile environment for the survivors and severely compromising their educational experiences. The main Title IX violations alleged in the complaints are outlined as follows: Faith Ferber was sexually assaulted while she was a student American University in February 2015. When she reported the sexual assault to the university, administrators forced her to sign an illegal confidentiality agreement, saying that she would not be able to have a hearing without one.1 Her perpetrator agreed to be held responsible for sexual assault, and when Ferber asked for her assailant to complete in­person consent and bystander intervention education, an administrator told her that he did not want the education to be “too difficult and time­consuming to complete.” The school gave him a simple sanction of disciplinary probation and he remains on campus. Hailey Rial reported her sexual assault to Indiana University Bloomington, and endured an inept and biased adjudication process. Her case was overseen by Jason Casares, a Title IX investigator who ​ recently resigned in the aftermath of a sexual assault allegation against him for an incident at a conference for student conduct administrators. Rial’s assailant was found not responsible for rape. After learning of the allegations against Casares, she tried to appeal the decision due to Casares’ conflict of interest. The university responded that because three days had passed since the appeal deadline, the university would not review her case. In the Title IX complaint, Rial writes, “I would think that the Title IX coordinator being accused of doing the same thing that someone else did to me was a bias, but Indiana University apparently did not agree.” 1 http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/title­ix­rights­201104.html At Monmouth University, Sarah* was raped by a fraternity member. When Sarah told the school’s ​ advisor for Greek life that she had been sexually assaulted, the advisor did not seem surprised, telling her that he had spoken to her assailant for disciplinary issues multiple times. When she expressed her concern to another administrator that her rapist posed a safety risk to the campus, the administrator told Sarah that when she meets with students multiple times for multiple incidents, they eventually become receptive and change their behavior. The administrator then suggested inviting Sarah’s perpetrator into her office to give him another warning. At both Indiana University Bloomington and the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the evidence that the survivors had from their forensic sexual assault examinations —“rape kits” — was either not used in the universities’ investigations or was not considered to have sufficient evidence to find the perpetrators responsible for violating the student code of conduct. At the ​ University of Alabama, Birmingham, the school told Shannon* that since there was no one “trained at the university to interpret forensic data correctly”, the school would not even consider reviewing the rape kit. Her perpetrator was found not responsible, and she is currently in the process of appealing her case. When she asked the administration what sanctions sexual assault perpetrators commonly get, she was told, “Until you get a lawyer from The Hunting Ground that makes us provide you with that information, I ​ ​ cannot tell you that.” It is unlikely that her rapist will be removed from campus before she graduates this spring. These four cases are only some of the latest examples of university administrators’ deliberately indifferent responses to sexual violence. Inspired in part by Lady Gaga’s Oscar performance this past weekend, ​ these survivors are now stepping out into the light to hold their institutions accountable. Contact: ​ End Rape on Campus [email protected] www.endrapeoncampus.org American University Anna Voremberg [email protected] University of Alabama, Birmingham & Monmouth University Sofie Karasek [email protected] Indiana University ­ Bloomington Andrea Pino [email protected] * These names are pseudonyms. ### .
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