Examiner.com
2.2.15 | Howard Portnoy
Yesterday, the Tennessean reported that two former varsity football players at Vanderbilt University were convicted on multiple counts of sexual assault. "[B]ut a separate on-campus investigation last year," the article goes on to note, "came to a very different conclusion":
[S]hortly after the June 23, 2013, rape of an unconscious female student in a dorm, Vanderbilt's Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action and Disability Services Department found there wasn't sufficient evidence to prove [Brandon] Vandenburg [who now could face decades in prison] had "nonconsensual sexual intercourse" with the woman. The report, reviewed by The Tennessean, concluded instead that Vandenburg was an "accomplice" and had violated the woman's privacy.The different findings by the campus disciplinary department and the criminal court about Vandenburg's responsibility for the crime highlights a growing national concern about how campus officials handle allegations of sexual assault. [Emphasis added]
LU's resident legal scholar Hans Bader has written a number of excellent pieces on this phenomenon (see here, here, here, and here).
But any outrage over possible injustice in the case of Brandon Vandenburg is likely to be eclipsed by the emotions aroused by a second Tennessean article, which notes that a workshop called "Want to be Brilliant in Bed?" is slated to be held tomorrow.
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