In a recent lawsuit filed yesterday in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis, a former Butler University athlete alleges the university and a campus fraternity “failed to protect her from a dangerous student who had a history of sexual assault.” According to the suit, the woman’s attacker, who was also an athlete at the school, pinned her down in a room in the Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity house and “raped her in December 2016 when she was 18 years old.
In a recent lawsuit filed yesterday in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis, a former Butler University athlete alleges the university and a campus fraternity “failed to protect her from a dangerous student who had a history of sexual assault.” According to the suit, the woman’s attacker, who was also an athlete at the school, pinned her down in a room in the Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity house and “raped her in December 2016 when she was 18 years old.
The woman also claims in her suit that her attacker “raped another student-athlete on multiple occasions during the prior school year,” and alleges that even after she reported the incident, Butler University failed to take appropriate action against the male student. When commenting on the lawsuit, attorney Kathleen DeLaney said, “It took two victims that we know of before this attacker was expelled.” Delaney is the attorney who filed the federal lawsuit on behalf of the woman, who is now 20-years-old. Butler University, Lambda Chi Alpha, and fraternity house owner Alpha-Alpha Zeta Alumni of Lambda Chi Alpha are named as defendants in the suit.
This isn’t the first time the woman has spoken out about her experience, though. Earlier this year, she filed a civil rights complaint against Butler, claiming the university “did not provide written information about resources available to her as required by federal law when she reported the incident, including counseling and the option to file a police report.” However, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights quickly dismissed her complaint in March for insufficient evidence. But what happened, exactly?
According to the suit, the woman and other underage students attended a fall semester party at the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. While there, she was served alcohol and left the house around midnight. However, she returned shortly after to search for a friend. Upon finding her friend asleep on a couch, a man approached her and “told her he had a necklace that belonged to one of her friends in his room.” She followed him to his room to retrieve the necklace, “and he locked the door and made sexual advances,” according to the lawsuit. Prior to the assault, the woman claims she repeatedly told him “she was not going to have sex with him,” to which he replied, “We’ll see.”
From there, the man, “who was significantly larger, stronger and heavier, held her down and undressed her” and proceeded to rape her, the suit claims. When the assault was over, he let her go and she returned to her dorm room. The next day, she “told a math teacher about the assault” and repeatedly reached out to Butler’s Title IX coordinator, “who is charged with making sure the school complies with federal law governing sexual assault and discrimination.”
According to federal law, colleges and universities are required to “investigate sexual assault allegations internally.” Federal law also “allows them to discipline students through suspensions or expulsions.” While law enforcement agencies are allowed to investigate as well, they need the “higher standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt” in order to do so.
Eventually, the woman gave up the athletic scholarship she had with Butler and transferred to another school. As a result of her ordeal, the woman is seeking unspecified damages for emotional distress, mental anguish, and pain and suffering. It should be noted that her attacker has yet to be arrested or charged with a crime, though he was expelled from the university in 2017.
In response to the lawsuit, Butler issued a statement, saying, “Butler takes its obligations under Title IX very seriously, including in this case, in which Butler thoroughly investigated the allegations and expelled the accused student.” Officials for the university added that Butler is “committed to providing a safe and secure environment on campus.” The same officials also stated:
“We have prevention, response and awareness programs, policies, and practices in place to address complaints of sexual harassment and sexual violence. We have adjusted them over time to make them more effective.”
Some of those initiatives include “expanding sexual violence education for faculty, staff, and students, improving access to information online, including a reporting process; a review of the school’s Title IX policy and resources available to students; and the hiring of a full-time investigator who will work on Title IX cases,” according to the university.
Sources:
Woman sues Butler and a former fraternity after claims she was raped on campus in 2016
Former Butler athlete sues university, fraternity over 2016 rape case
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