In a court document filed on Friday, Northwestern University denied a student’s allegations that the university had violated federal law by failing to follow up sufficiently on her complaint that a professor sexually assaulted her in 2012 and by failing to provide her with appropriate support and a safe learning environment, The Daily Northwestern reported.
In its response, Northwestern said that it had appropriately punished the accused professor based on the findings of its internal investigation and that it had offered the student support through a counseling center and the office of the dean of students.
The student, who is now a junior, has sued Northwestern under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, accusing it of creating a “hostile educational environment” and of being indifferent to her anxiety and distress.
In her earlier complaint to the university, the student alleged that Peter Ludlow, a professor of philosophy, sexually assaulted her during a trip the two took to an art show in Chicago in February 2012. Mr. Ludlow has denied those allegations.
The university says its investigation concluded that the professor had made “unwelcome and inappropriate sexual advances” toward the student, according to The Daily Northwestern. It says it disciplined Mr. Ludlow by denying him a raise during the 2012-13 academic year, rescinding his appointment to an endowed professorship, and prohibiting him from having any contact with the student.
Alan K. Cubbage, a spokesman for the university, said in an email to the student-run paper that a six-member faculty committee had reviewed and unanimously supported those sanctions after Mr. Ludlow appealed them. The committee “could have recommended additional sanctions but did not do so,” Mr. Cubbage said.
The university is asking for the case to be dismissed, arguing that it has not violated Title IX. “Northwestern complied fully with its procedures, conducted a prompt and thorough investigation of all of the allegations made by the student to the university, and took a number of corrective and remedial actions in this matter,” Mr. Cubbage said.
