DAMILARE SONOIKI Sues Harvard For Denying His Degree Following Sexual Misconduct Findings
Former Harvard undergraduate Damilare Sonoiki filed a lawsuit against the University Oct. 21 alleging that the College unfairly withheld and ultimately denied him his degree after three fellow students accused him of sexual assault. Sonoiki was set to graduate in May 2013. Two days before Commencement, however, two women filed sexual misconduct complaints against him. Sonoiki still spoke as the Harvard Orator on Class Day and walked at graduation. Still, he was denied a degree because he was involved in a pending investigation.
On Nov. 19, 2013, the Administrative Board found Sonoki responsible for the accusations, required him to withdraw from the College, and recommended his dismissal to the Faculty Council, according to his legal complaint. On Dec. 10, 2014, the Council dismissed Sonoki. He never received his undergraduate degree. Sonoiki contends that the Ad Board and Faculty Council decisions were “void” because Harvard no longer had any jurisdiction over him after his scheduled graduation date.
Sonoiki’s complaint further alleges that the Ad Board process was “opaque,” “convoluted,” and “devoid of basic fairness.” Among other grievances, he claims that Harvard denied him “adequate notice” of the charges against him, the opportunity to be advised by an attorney of his choosing, and the right to question or confront witnesses against him. In the legal filings, Sonoiki requests $300,000 for damages and a reversal of the Ad Board’s decision. He also requests the conference of his College degree. Susan C. Stone, one of Sonoiki’s lawyers, added in an interview that the Ad Board denied Sonoiki permission to be present during the adjudication proceedings and that his Ad Board-appointed representative — his resident dean — was unable to serve as a confidential resource.
In 2018, Sonoiki pleaded guilty to charges of insider trading for giving NFL football player Mychal Kendricks illegal tips about upcoming mergers between Goldman Sachs clients while he was employed there. Stone said she anticipates Sonoiki will face a “smear campaign” because of his insider trading conviction, but that this past case does not invalidate his claims in the current lawsuit. “It’s easy to say that Damilare doesn’t deserve justice in light of the situation that he was involved in with the insider trading,” Stone said. “But he made a mistake, he took responsibility for that mistake. That has no bearing on Harvard taking responsibility for the mistakes that they made in denying him a fair process.”
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