LAWSUIT. Saddleback College Expelled A Cerebral Palsy Autistic Male For Making Friends. After Two Years His Day In Court Is Here
Marcus Knight—a student with autism and cerebral palsy—will come face to face with the Title IX officer who found him guilty of two Title IX sexual misconduct violations later this month as he takes Saddleback college to court in an attempt to clear his name. Knight first came to my attention in 2018 after his attempts to make friends landed him in the school’s Title IX office, not just once but twice. According to the lawsuit, Marcus Knight asked one female student for a fist-bump, and another for a selfie. While these may seem trivial, two female students at Saddleback College were so uncomfortable with Knight’s attempts to make friends that they reported him to the Title IX office.
But what’s caused two years of “absolute heartbreak,” according to Knight’s mother, is how the Title IX officer handled the accusations. At the time in 2018, Juan Avalos was the school’s Title IX counselor, even though it seems Avalos has no formal Title IX training. Avalos nonetheless investigated and adjudicated Knight’s case. No students formally testified against Knight, yet Knight was found guilty. According to the lawsuit, Knight was never offered a fair hearing, an opportunity to respond to the evidence, and Knight did not have enough time to gather information to defend himself. Further, the school’s “single-investigator model,” during which Avalos collected evidence, interviewed students and subsequently disciplined Knight is unlawful under California code, according to the lawsuit.
Going forward, Marcus and Aurora Knight have been “left in the dark.” by Saddleback. “Why won’t they just be honest? They are treating my son like a caged animal. But he is utterly harmless. He had no issues prior to college, at all,” his mother said. Aurora—a single mother and immigrant from Italy—has created a GoFundMe to help cover her son’s legal expenses. “My son’s dreams have crashed, his confidence is destroyed. Marcus has no idea who he can trust and who he must fear… he doesn’t know who is a friend or even how to make friends. Marcus wants to face Juan Avalos in court. He wants the opportunity to state the facts and clear his name.”
thepostmillennial-Toni Airaksinen
