By MJ Routh | Multimedia Journalist
Baylor University settled a lawsuit on July 13th filed by a former student who claims she was drugged and gang-raped by as many as eight of the school’s football players after a party that took place in February 2012.
The terms of the settlement cannot be disclosed.
The former Baylor volleyball player — referred to as Jane Doe — filed the lawsuit last year in Waco’s U.S. District Court after she felt several of the university’s officials did not respond to her claims in an appropriate manner.
The university hopes settling with Doe will benefit both parties.
“Baylor University understands that survivors of sexual and interpersonal violence seek resolution in many ways,” Baylor said in a statement on July 13th. “In reaching a legal settlement, we acknowledge the challenges this survivor has endured and realize it’s a small step in the healing process.”
Doe said in the lawsuit she remembers one of the players picking her up and placing her in a vehicle then she was taken to an off-campus apartment where she said the rape took place.
The suit also states that some players yelled, “Grab her phone! Delete my numbers and texts!” The next day, Doe said she noticed that two of the players’ phone numbers had been taken off her contact list.
According to the lawsuit, Doe told her mother about the assault four months after it happened. Her mother met with an assistant football coach at the university and asked what the school was going to do about it. It said she also gave him several names of players whom Doe claimed were involved in the gang rape. The lawsuit then states she did not hear from the coach after that initial meeting.
After the spring 2013 semester, Doe withdrew from the university. She said school officials told she and her parents that it was too late to report the incident to the police.
In the university’s statement, Baylor mentioned the steps they are making to improve the wellbeing of their student body.
“Under new leadership, Baylor has taken significant actions in response to past reports of sexual violence within our campus community and implemented 105 improvements to our Title IX policy, processes and procedures,” the university said. “We remain steadfast in our commitment to properly respond to incidents of sexual assault, interpersonal violence and harassment.”
This is the university’s fifth settlement in a Title IX lawsuit.
