UT, student settle sexual misconduct case
Agreement reached after school president is accused of unfairly swaying outcome
The University of Texas at Austin settled a lawsuit from a suspended student who accused the flagship’s president of unfairly swaying the outcome of his internal sexual misconduct case.
The settlement Monday followed UT-Austin’s decision to reverse the student’s suspension in an effort to “avoid disruption to the university,” the university said in court documents.
The student, identified only as John Doe, accused UT-Austin President Gregory Fenves of unfairly intervening in his case because he feared that UT-Austin would “suffer the same public relations disaster that occurred at nearby Baylor University” if administrators did not appear to take the crime seriously, according to court documents.
Doe was accused of rape by a female college student, identified as Jane Roe.
Fenves not part of appeal
The students were sophomores in April 2016 when the female student invited him to be her date at a sorority formal. They drank alcohol at the event, and afterward, the two went back to the male student’s apartment, where both students said she consented to having sex, according to court filings.
The female student later said her judgment was impaired and accused the male student of rape because she was incapacitated. A hearing panel sided with the male student in February 2017, and the female student appealed the decision.
Fenves then stepped in. Responding in a seven-page letter, he concluded that it was more likely than not that the male student assaulted the female student “while she was too intoxicated to give consent,” according to court documents. Doe was suspended for five semesters, which was reversed amid the litigation.
“To avoid this litigation’s disruption to the university, UT has reinstated John Doe as a student, lifted his suspension, and will route the appeal to a third-party other than President Fenves for adjudication,” court filings read. “He may register for classes for the spring semester.”
Brian Roark, an attorney for the male student, told reporters that the university will not continue to review the appeal after the settlement, the Austin American-Statesman reported. He did not respond to requests for comment Monday.
A UT-Austin spokesman declined to comment on the issue Monday.
Legal standards differ
UT-Austin defines incapacitation as “a state of being that prevents an individual from having the capacity to give consent.” Incapacitation, according to the university, could stem from a person’s use of drugs or alcohol, being asleep or unconscious or because of an intellectual or other disability.
The university requires a “preponderance of the evidence” standard in sexual assault cases, lower than the “beyond reasonable doubt” standard in criminal cases.
That’s in line with what former President Barack Obama’s administration required for university hearings. President Donald Trump’s administration recently pared back those guidelines, requiring universities to either use a “preponderance of the evidence” standard or a “clear and convincing” standard, which would mean a party needs to prove that it is substantially more likely than not that it is true.