College rescinds degree for post-graduation allegation of "rape" from years ago.

[BadHairDecades]

http://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/01/us...l?pagewanted=2

All that hard work, and an unfounded accusation is all it takes. He should have kept all the tape recordings and asked every time:

A student who faces a rape charge at Pomona College, in Claremont, Calif., has sued the school over several aspects of the case, including a rule against bringing a lawyer to a judicial hearing. A judge ruled last week that his lawyer must be admitted to the hearing. The student, who graduated two weeks ago, is at risk of having his degree rescinded.

The accuser waited two and a half years before filing a complaint with the school's disciplinary board. She says she went willingly to the man's room and did not object to his sexual advances or resist them, and that no force was used. What occurred was a rape, she contends, because she did not explicitly consent to sex.

If an accuser complains to the Department of Education that a college is not harsh enough, the college could lose their federal funding. She may also sue them for damages in civil rights violations. Some schools settled for $2 million is such cases. Accused students who sue for being expelled almost never get awarded damages. At best they are half exonerated, by the judge saying the trial was not fair.

Therefore, it is much less risky and far cheaper for schools to simply side with every accuser, unless the accused can show enough proof of innocence to make the school feel safe they won't be sued if they side with him. The accuser still is not punished.

 

[Norwood One]

That's pretty messed up. The way things are going, I barely even try to take women from bars home or anything anymore. It's just too risky. Then it becomes a he said she said and your life is ****ed.

 

[BadHairDecades]

This story's from 1994.

There have been some college administrators defaming students without due process for actions that are not illegal for quite some time. It is only recently that some of them got into the federal administration and scared many others into doing likewise. Many lawsuit settlements resulted in prior administrators resigning and being replaced with those who side with accusers. However, not all are that way. There still are private religion schools that still don't care at all about rape victims. There also are states that told their universities they would lose funding if they denied students due process. Those in the department of education are almost centrists compared to what is out there.


It is possible he actually did rape her, but they could not prove it and instead got him on the technicality of not getting per explicit permission. However, saying that is the reason sends a chilling effect to other people. It also disturbs me that they could take his degree for something alleged to have happened 7 years prior. I find it far more believable this was an excuse and he was targeted for something else, such as speaking about something they don't like.

If a lower standard of evidence is going to be used here, there needs to be a deadline to bring the accusation. Otherwise, any angry ex from the past can control previous partners with such a threat.