Sexual Assault on Campus: Univ. of Connecticut students file federal complaint over handling of sexual assault on campus
(CBS) - Students at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, Conn. have filed a federal complaint with the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights over their school's handling of sexual assault cases.
At a press conference Tuesday, one student involved in the complaint said that a campus police officer told her "women need to stop spreading their legs like peanut butter or rape is going to keep on happening until the cows come home."
The complaint, which alleges the university has run afoul of the federal Title IX law by treating students who reported assault poorly and inadequately addressing their claims, is the latest in series of similar actions taken by students across the country, from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, to Dartmouth and the University of Southern California.
Attorney Gloria Allred is representing the seven UConn students and one former student in their action. Allred also represented a group of students at California's Occidental College who filed a similar complaint in the spring. The college reportedly settled with the students in September, although the terms of the settlement have not been disclosed.
At a meeting of the university's Board of Trustees Wednesday morning, UConn President Susan Herbst addressed the filing, saying she could not address specific cases, but that the notion that the university did not take sexual assault cases seriously "is astonishingly misguided and demonstrably untrue."
"This is so obvious to those of us who work here and deal with these serious and painful issues, that I am stunned that I even have to say it, or that any reasonable person would believe otherwise," said Herbst.
According to a UConn spokesperson, the university has not yet seen the federal complaint. In a statement released Monday, the university said they take these allegations "extremely seriously," and defended the school's handling of sexual assault cases brought to their attention, stating, "We are confident at this point that these cases were handled thoroughly, swiftly, and appropriately."
Allred told CBS affiliate WFSB that while the federal Department of Education considers their claims, her clients are "considering all our legal options."
