Spelman, Morehouse Among Colleges With Open Sexual Assault Cases

By Charlene Arsenault (Patch Staff)

According to a new database, there are 197 open investigations of sexual assault on campus at 161 colleges and universities nationwide, and two of those are in Atlanta.

The database from The Chronicle of Higher Education tracks the history of sexual assault cases, and lists Spelman College and Morehouse College.

Both colleges were listed in connection with cases that date back to Nov. 19, 2015.

“Alleged victims of sexual assault at the women’s college have spoken publicly about what they see as an inadequate response by Spelman and a lack of coordination with its brother institution, Morehouse College,” the report says. “Students have protested the response to reports of sexual assault in the Atlanta University Center Consortium (including Spelman, Morehouse, and Clark Atlanta University) and issued a list of demands for the institutions to do more to ’protect, serve, and work for and with all students to keep us safe.’ ”

In 2013, three Morehouse students on its basketball team were arrested in connection with the sexual assault of a Spelman student who was under the influence of alcohol and drugs, but no DNA evidence was found.

“In the fall of 2015, a Morehouse student circulated a satirical ’sexual consent form’ for a visiting ’hoe’ to allow a male student ’to perform any and all sexual behavior on [her]’ and not to renege, lest she be ‘exposed campus wide as a lying b#$%ch,’ “ the report said. “A Morehouse administrator responded to the ensuing controversy by denouncing the fake form and indicating that the college would discipline the student responsible for it.”

In 2011, The Department of Education announced in a statement that it was strengthening its focus on handling reports of sexual assault at institutions, stating, “The sexual harassment of students, including sexual violence, interferes with students’ right to receive an education free from discrimination and, in the case of sexual violence, is a crime...The statistics on sexual violence are both deeply troubling and a call to action for the nation.”

Nineteen percent of 243 investigations since 2011 have been resolved, and in May of 2014, the DOE’s Office for Civil Rights said it would investigate 55 colleges for “possible violations of federal law over their handling of campus sexual assault cases,” reports the Boston Globe.

Find open investigations here.