Former Student, Dismissed for Sexual Assault, Sues Sewanee

July 11, 2011, 8:10 pm

A former student has sued Sewanee: the University of the South for dismissing him in 2008 after finding that he had violated its sexual-assault policy, the Associated Press reported. The anonymous student, who never faced criminal charges, argues that the accusation against him was false and that the university’s action harmed his reputation and career prospects, according to the AP. He seeks at least $1-million in damages. The lawsuit comes at a time when many colleges are revising their sexual-assault policies to comply with new federal guidelines that protect more than before the rights of alleged victims.

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agoldstein

Why is this news? At any time most universities and colleges have several ongoing lawsuits and I would imagine that, nationwide, there are many suits that surround sexually-related disciplinary actions. I was sued by a student, along with the President and a number of other administrators and faculty members, when I chaired a sexual harrassment panel that dismissed him from my university. It was very unpleasant and was eventually settled out of court, as most suits are, but it didn’t make the Chronicle. Nor should this story.
Geoz32

agreed.
rightwingprofessor

The Obama administration is trying to force colleges to adopt a “preponderance of evidence” standard for finding guilt in sexual assault cases, which will surely lead to more men being victimized like this guy. Universities should not be in the business of adjudicating felony accusations, these should be left to the courts. The college kangaroo courts can deal with routine cheating, underage drinking, etc…
jesor

I don’t think this has anything to do with politics. Right now the legal standard varies between colleges and the only thing the Supreme Court has required has been “due process” (attorney’s are only specifically allowed in the case of an outright expulsion.) Establishing an actual bottom line legal standard is probably a good start. Most colleges use a higher standard which is “Clear and Convincing Evidence”, the feds requiring a preponderance to be the minimum won’t change that and will in fact stop some schools which were using “probable cause” as a standard. Of course if you raise the standard for expulsions too high you’ll just end up with a situation where it’s easier to institute a multi-year suspension and then plan on the student never coming back anyways.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=9507311 Angelina Oh

I don’t understand why you object to the use of the “preponderance of evidence” standard. It’s the standard of evidence used in civil trials, so why is it not good enough for administrative processes?