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VMI SAYS PROCEDURES NOT FOLLOWED IN CADET’S CLAIM

Virginia Military Institute says procedures weren’t followed in the reporting of a female cadet’s sexual assault claim.

VMI spokesman Stewart MacInnis said the 2010 claim was supposed to be reported to the school’s inspector general, who didn’t learn about it until eight months later.

The Roanoke Times reports the cadet told a school official in November 2010 that a senior staff member assaulted her that evening while she was a guest in his off-campus home during the Thanksgiving holiday break.

The official reported it to a higher-ranking officer, VMI’s commandant of cadets. But instead of reporting the matter to the inspector general, the commandant confronted the accused employee.

“Our protocol at that point was clear, and we could have done better to follow the protocol,” MacInnis said. “We obviously didn’t follow it to the point we involved the inspector general.”

After learning of the claim, the inspector general started his own investigation. After that investigation ended, the staff member left his job.

The cadet didn’t file a police report and no criminal charges were filed. MacInnis said VMI officials should have notified law enforcement.

The incident occurred while the cadet was alone in the home with the staff member. MacInnis said VMI has no policy regarding employees offering their homes to students during holidays.

The U.S. Department of Education contacted the woman in May as part of an ongoing investigation into the Lexington college’s treatment of women, who were first admitted in 1997 after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down its all-male admissions policy.

The DOE’s Office of Civil Rights has been investigating VMI since 2008 for potential violations of Title IX, the law that bans gender discrimination in federally funded school programs, including sports.

Allegations include harassment and an inequitable tenure and promotion process for female faculty.

The cadet missed significant school time while in counseling because of the incident but eventually graduated from VMI.

After graduation, she said she continued to contact school officials seeking an apology that never happened.

VMI updated its sexual assault policy about eight months after the claim was made, in part a reflection of the Department of Education’s clarification that sexual assault is to be treated as a Title IX offense.

The cadet said she believes VMI violated her rights under Title IX. MacInnis said VMI believes no violations occurred.

Source: Richmond Times Dispatch