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Abstract: 

A female student at the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine (WVSOM) alleged that a fellow student drugged and raped her after she had been drinking at an off-campus party. The flawed and inadequate response of WVSOM, which included issuing a no-contact order against the victim and not the accused, prohibiting the victim from discussing her case with any student, faculty, or staff member while simultaneously disclosing to staff and students that the victim had filed a rape complaint, and the school’s failure to prosecute the allegation, protect the victim, or provide the assistance of a Title IX advocate, led, inevitably, to the victim filing a Title IX complaint us the Office of Civil Rights and a lawsuit in federal court. This article reviews the facts and rulings in a case that serves as a harsh lesson for schools that fail to fully and professionally investigate allegations of sexual assault. This column also reviews the arguments in a case where the defendant appeared to do everything right and still was unable to prevent a tragedy. Scheffel v. Oregon Beta Chapter of Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity was brought by a female student who was sexually assaulted during an invitation-only party at which the fraternity hired security guards, assigned members to serve as sober monitors, did not serve alcohol, and shut the party down early when the conduct of some partygoers crossed the line—none of these precautions succeeded in preventing the rape that occurred before the crowd could be cleared.

Keywords: Sexual assault; Title IX; Rex v. West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine; Scheffel v. Oregon Beta Chapter of Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity

Affiliations:  1: Supreme Court of Ohio.