Student, a rape victim commits suicide and why the school got in trouble

A student took her own life because her school badly botched an investigation into her alleged rape on campus, a lawsuit claims.

Megan Wright enrolled as resident student at Dominican College in the fall of 2005. According to a lawsuit filed by her mother, Wright was raped by three men in a residence hall at the school in May 2006.

Wright’s mother says that after the rape, the school failed to reassign her to a new room, waited a month before viewing a security videotape taken from the residence hall, and discouraged Wright from pursuing a complaint through the school.

She also claims the college’s president refused to meet with her or Wright and collaborated with a local police detective to conceal reports of other sexual assaults.

About seven months after the alleged attack, Wright committed suicide.

The lawsuit against the school alleges a violation of Title IX. It adds claims of fraud, infliction of emotional distress and violation of Wright’s equal protection rights.

The college filed a motion to dismiss those claims, but the court rejected it. It said the complaint adequately alleges that the college acted unreasonably following the alleged attack.

Cite: McGrath v. Dominican College of Blauvelt, New York

Source: HigherEd Morning