Drury students received news of a lawsuit filed against Drury University involving a Title IX investigation. This information came to light when students received the university’s statement via email on Wednesday, Jan. 16 from Director of University Relations Mike Brothers. The short statement left students with more questions than answers: questions the administration cannot answer because of student confidentiality. By accessing public court filings, The Mirror hopes to answer these questions.

The investigation

According to the civil case document, the suit was filed on Jan. 14, 2019 by a former Drury student. The claims date back to February 2017, when the student was allegedly sexually assaulted in a residence hall on Drury’s Springfield campus. The student claims that, the following day, she was physically assaulted by the same perpetrator. The student decided to report the assault to Drury’s administration. What allegedly occurred in the reporting process forms the basis for the student’s lawsuit.

Following a Title IX investigation, Drury concluded that the male student had violated Drury’s sexual misconduct policy, specifically regarding sexual harassment and sexual coercion. The perpetrator was removed from the woman’s residence hall and instructed not to enroll in the same classes or attempt to communicate with her. The woman reported that harassment continued.

According to the suit, the woman reported that her assailant repeatedly “snuck into Plaintiff’s dormitory” and made her feel unsafe and embarrassed on campus. The woman went to administration to express her concerns and reported feeling neglected.

Confidentiality

The Mirror spoke with Brothers and Drury’s Executive Vice President and University Relations General Counsel, Aaron Jones, to hear Drury’s feedback on the details of the case and to address student safety.

To begin with, Brothers and Jones clarified that under FERPA (The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act), students’ education records are confidential. This is the reason why Drury cannot go into specifics when explaining the lawsuit and allegations.

As a result, many questions must go publicly unanswered, including whether the alleged perpetrator remains on Drury’s campus, the actions taken to remedy the situation and the reasoning behind not alerting the Drury community when the alleged assaults took place.

Student concerns

The Mirror reached out to Drury students about the investigation. Many students expressed that they were confused, angry or afraid. The Mirror brought these sentiments to Brothers and Jones.

In response to students’ concerns, Brothers said, “We understand those feelings, and we don’t want our students to feel that way. So, I would say two things:

1. Again, I think that maybe some of the students in the comments are presuming that everything stated in the suit is true, but there are things we intend to dispute.

2. We think that it is important to note that Title IX cases cover a wide spectrum of issues. That can include discrimination, up to harassment, all the way up to various types of sexual misconduct. There are a range of those incidents and a range of appropriate responses based on what our team finds in the investigations. There is a proportionality there.

We stand by the integrity of this process. And I do understand where students are coming from. I don’t want them to be afraid. I don’t want them to think that we have not taken this seriously, that we haven’t followed every possible step and that we haven’t followed our policies because we have. We want this to be a safe place and it is.”

When asked about the allegations against the Drury administration, Jones replied, “We really can’t at this time be more specific than telling that there are going to be allegations that we do dispute.”

Why now?

Brothers and Jones explained why this information is only now, two years later, being provided: “When legal reports are filed, we have a cross functional team between our security and SPD [Springfield Police Department] who work closely together to determine if there is or appears to be an imminent threat to anyone on campus. If that is the case, we will issue a ‘timely warning.’ If our team does not determine a threat, then, in those cases, we do not issue a notice. Simply put, we do not issue a notice every time someone reports something to us.”

The events in February 2017 were not deemed a threat to the student body, thus Drury students were not made aware of the events.

Spectrum of infractions and consequences

According to the complaints detailed in the federal case, the assailant was allowed to remain on Drury’s campus following the investigation’s conclusion. The plaintiff said the male’s punishment was “insignificant and did nothing to protect plaintiff and other women from the male student.” These facts could not be confirmed by Drury administration.

Brothers made a parallel to Drury’s hazing policy, stating that in the hazing policy there is a spectrum of infractions and sanctions.

Brothers explained, “Drury has said we do not tolerate hazing. Some people would look at that and think, and it’s a natural assumption, that anyone that hazes at Drury will be kicked off of Drury’s campus. But again, it is a spectrum. If someone made a freshman stand up in the Commons and sing a song that technically is hazing, and we will hand out sanctions. But the sanctions for that would probably not include kicking them off campus. Now that is in no way to try to minimize the seriousness of hazing or sexual assault. They both can have serious consequences and will require proportional responses. I don’t think that the policy is lenient. There is just a spectrum of infractions and spectrum of responses.”

Combatting sexual assault

Drury has several mechanisms in place to combat sexual assault, including: mandatory sexual assault education courses, a student honor code, the “It’s On Us” pledge, and speakers well-versed in awareness and prevention who speak to incoming freshmen during orientation.

If a student has any ideas or concerns as to how to improve the situation of sexual assaults on campus, they are invited to give feedback by contacting a Title IX coordinator or a trusted faculty member. In the meantime, we will look to local media and Mike Brothers for updated information about the current lawsuit.

Written by Ciera DuBan.