Liberty University, the nation’s largest Christian university tucked in the hills of the Appalachian mountains has found itself in the center of controversy yet again following a bombshell lawsuit filed against the university by 12 women.
The women were not named in the lawsuit and are instead identified as Jane Doe numbers 1-12. The women allege that the Lynchburg, Virginia private university created a hostile environment when it came to reporting sexual abuse allegations. In addition to the hostile environment, the women alleged that the university’s honor code, “The Liberty Way,” fostered an environment that increased the likelihood for sexual assault and rapes to take place. Lastly, the 12 women allege that the school conducted repeated public retaliation tactics that not only hindered those who abused to come forward but also led to repercussions for victims who did speak out.
The lawsuit features scathing remarks that accuse the university of targeting women who reported instances of sexual abuse. The Liberty Way has a strict prohibition against students being alone with individuals of the opposite sex as well as being in areas or engaging in activities where alcohol is involved. For some women, the very nature of their sexual assault involved circumstances that would have automatically violated “The Liberty Way.” Plaintiffs argue that by the very nature of reporting their sexual assault, they were incriminating themselves for violating the honor code, thus finding themselves being reprimanded because of their report.
The lawsuit states, "Liberty University has intentionally created a campus environment where sexual assaults and rapes are foreseeably more likely to occur than they would in the absence of Liberty's policies.”
Liberty University shared a statement with CNN that read in part, "Many of the claims are the complete opposite of how the University's policies and procedures were designed to operate over the years." The University adds, "Liberty has invested mightily in programs and personnel to help maintain a safe campus and to support any and all victims of sexual assault who came forward."
The University also explained that they had a "robust non-discrimination policy, which includes an amnesty policy to encourage victims to make reports without fearing that their involvement in other activities like drinking alcohol or extramarital sex will be disciplined under the student honor code."
The lawsuit argues against the stance Liberty takes in its statement and instead explains that "Some students who actually self-reported their own violations of the Liberty Way or were the victims of sexual violence ... were actually disciplined and fined in spite of their prompt report."
Plaintiff Jane Doe 3, who was a student at the time of her sexual assault, shared that upon telling her resident advisor that she was sexually assaulted by a student-athlete after a party, she would face penalties for being at a party where drinking took place. Jane Doe 3 went on to file the report, but after her complaint, she says she was "forced to undergo 'spiritual guidance.'"
Jane Doe 3 also included photos of the injuries and bruises she suffered after the attack. However, she later discovered that the photos attached to her complaint were taken out of her Title IX investigation file because they were “too explicit” as described by the report.
Another plaintiff, Jane Doe 10, shared that she was also met with disciplinary action following an attack in which her boyfriend raped her. Jane Doe 10 met her boyfriend through her two college roommates. After her roommates reported Jane Doe 10 to the Student Conduct Office, the complaint explains that Jane Doe 10 "attempted to make clear that she was the victim of a rape, Liberty University's Student Conduct Office gave her no opportunity to do so and, instead, forced her to sit with her rapist and apologize to her roommates for her violation of the Liberty Way."
One of the most alarming testaments in the complaint comes from John Doe 12. This plaintiff alleges that when she was 15 and was attending a summer camp at the university, she crossed paths with a “soft-spoken” man named Jesse Matthew Jr. Years after Doe 12’s alleged assault, Matthew was later identified as the man who kidnapped and killed UVA students Morgan Harrington and Hanna Graham.
The complaint reads that “Matthew threw Doe 12 into a large cushioned chair. Before he was able to grab her again, ‘she interposed her feet between him and her, and held him off while he attempted to grope her legs and breasts.’"
After Doe 12 reported the incident to university police, she was made to ride in the same car as her attacker to the police station despite her objection to doing so. The lawsuit goes on to allege that “the police then began an ‘investigation’ into her claim, which seemed to solely consist of a demand that she strip and submit to being photographed by the chief of police. Doe 12 refused and suggested that such an investigation should be undertaken by a doctor or nurse and that such a professional could also take samples from her nails. The police refused to transport Doe 12 to the hospital and, instead, continued to badger her until she agreed to allow herself to be photographed naked by a female debate coach.”
This latest lawsuit against Liberty University and its handling of sexual assault allegations comes roughly a year after the university’s former president, Jerry Falwell Jr., had a national fall from grace after allegations of an extramarital affair surfaced. Following Trump's appearance at the university during his 2016 presidential campaign, the university which was founded by Falwell’s father has since been in the national spotlight.
