On May 29 a former student filed a Title IX lawsuit against Rhodes College. The issues central to the lawsuit, John Doe v. Rhodes College 2:19-cv-02336, are echoed in many of the Title IX cases brought against institutions of higher education across the country. John Doe and a another football player, ‘Dylan’ were ultimately expelled from Rhodes three weeks before graduation after the Title IX office investigated and found them in violation of Non-Consensual Sexual Penetration with ‘Alice’ a female Rhodes student. The former student was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity (SAE) and was a player on the Rhodes football team. He was scheduled to graduate in May of 2019. Doe claims that because of his expulsion, he will not graduate and will lose his employment offer, which is slated to begin upon his graduation. Doe said his expulsion “was the direct result of gender bias” and says he was falsely accused of taking part in the alleged assault and believes the school was “under pressure” and “intentionally singled out two male students,” despite more substantial allegations against a female student…The lawsuit lists procedural irregularities that Doe asserts cast doubt on the accuracy of the outcome of the sexual misconduct hearing. There was no participation of the alleged victim during the hearing, there was no cross-examination. Last-minute evidence was permitted at the hearing and not all accused students were equally before the hearing panel. Doe argues that Rhodes’ decision to charge two male respondents while choosing not to charge a female student accused of participation in the same alleged sexual assault coupled with pressure from the media, student organizations, and Alice’s tort attorney, to reach an outcome that was adverse to male students, especially to fraternity members, demonstrates discrimination against Doe on the basis of his gender. In addition, Doe states that the hearing panel’s decision to seek the testimony of “female students regarding hearsay” information while not eliciting nor “crediting the testimony of male students” with direct, personal knowledge demonstrates a specific desire to credit the testimony of female students over male students. Doe was never charged with a crime, but Rhodes conducted a separate Title IX investigation for violations of its sexual misconduct policy. He is asking the court to stop Rhodes from enforcing its expulsion, to allow him to graduate and award him up to $5 million for “damage to reputation, lost income, medical expenses, physical pain and suffering, and mental and emotional distress.”

At most schools, how Title IX cases are investigated and resolved is, overall, a mystery. Although public universities are subject to state public-record laws, they are still able to make very limited amounts of information available; private universities, like Rhodes College, can basically tell anyone with questions to get lost. The visibility of injustice causes public outcry and, subsequently, reform in the criminal justice system. However, the entire Title IX process happens in complete secrecy, behind closed-doors. Because of this, many students are only given the opportunity to understand the ins and outs of their Title IX office once someone sues.

The current lawsuit is now one of two ongoing Title IX lawsuits against Rhodes College. The second lawsuit, Jane Doe v. Rhodes College, et al., 2:19-cv-02336, was filed in May 2016. Additionally, according to the Pending Cases Currently Under Investigation by OCR,  Rhodes is under four open and active investigations…In total, upwards of 320 campus sexual assault lawsuits have been filed in response to Title IX policies linked to the Education Department’s letter. According to some reports an average of one lawsuit has been filed every week in federal court by former students for the last 3 years.

medium-Rachel Heimann wmcactionnews5 – Brandon Richard

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